With two heats taking place 14 February at University College Birmingham and the University of West London, in with the chance of winning this year’s title are:
Birmingham competitors:
- Scott Braithwaite, L’Enclume (Cumbria)
- Scott Dineen, BaxterStorey Fine Dining, London
- Adam Harper, The Cavendish Hotel at Baslow, Derbyshire
- Spencer Metzger, The Ritz (London)
- Curtis Tonge, The Chester Grosvenor (Cheshire)
- Ricki Weston, Whatley Manor (Gloucestershire)
London competitors:
- Ryan Baker, The Ritz (London)
- Jordan Bayes, Tuddenham Mill (Suffolk)
- Bence Burai, Texture Restaurant (London)
- Olivia Catherine Burt, Claridge’s (London)
- Michael Cruickshank, Bohemia (Jersey)
- Oliver Dovey, BaxterStorey Fine Dining (London)
- Patrick Frischknecht, The Clove Club (London)
- Ben Hobson, Galvin at Windows (London)
- Lewis Linley, Vacherin (London)
- Yiannis Mexis, Hide (London)
- Samuel Nash, L’Enclume (Cumbria)
- Luke Sutton, The Woodspeen (Berkshire)
The Birmingham heat will be judged by Alain Roux, Brian Turner, Angela Hartnett and 2003 scholar, Simon Hulstone; and the London heat by Michel Roux Jr, Rachel Humphrey, James Martin, 1999 scholar Sat Bains and André Garrett, 2002 scholar.
Co-founder Alain Roux added: “The level seems to be very high this year.
“It’s good to see so many first time applicants, which shows that even after all the years that the competition has been running, it is still regarded by the younger generation of chefs as something with high value.
“Getting to the regional final in a competition of this level is already a very high achievement, and they can take a lot of out of it.
“Even if they don’t go through to the final, they’ve worked hard and improved as a chef.”
Contestant will have 2.5 hours to prepare four-covers of their submitted recipe, which had to include one short saddle of hogget and four hogget kidneys, a potato rösti, garnish/accompaniment of their choice and a sauce, as well as a dessert made from a mystery box of ingredients given to them on the day.
Judge Clare Smyth commented: “I really love hogget. It’s a really under-utilised meat and there are some really delicious-sounding dishes this year.
“It’s also nice to see a female chef among the finalists. Once the identities were revealed (all entries are judged anonymously), I realised that she had one of my highest scores, so I was excited about that.
“There are some great name houses in there - it’s going to be a really exciting competition, a tough one.”
The six winners from across the two heats will then go through to the national final, which takes place 1 April at Westminster Kingsway College.
The 2019 Roux Scholar will be announced at the awards ceremony the same evening at Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park (London).