The finalists will compete in two regional finals, held simultaneously on Thursday, March 12th 2015. They will take place at University College Birmingham and University of West London, Ealing.
This year’s challenge is to create a recipe to serve four people, using two whole guinea fowl (with or without giblets), weighing anywhere between 1.2kg - 1.6kg plus 200g chicken livers, trimmed; served together, plated and accompanied by two garnishes. One garnish must include spinach leaves and the other to be a garnish of the chef’s choice. A sauce must accompany the dish.
Competitors will have 2 and a half hours to cook their dish, along with a dessert from a mystery box of ingredients given to them on the day. The judges will be looking for those recipes and methods which demonstrate the best balance of creativity, taste, style and practicality in the finished dish.
The national final will then take place on Monday, March 30th 2015 where the six winners selected across the two regional finals will go through to the national final, which takes place at Westminster Kingsway College, London.
The 2015 Roux Scholar will be announced at an awards ceremony held at The Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park the same evening.
The competition, now in its 32nd year, offers the winner a three-month stage at a three Michelin starred restaurant anywhere in the world.
Andrew Fairlie, one of this year’s judges, said: “The standard this year was very high which made the judging tougher than ever. I’m pleased to see so many chefs in the finals representing restaurants from right across the country.”
The chefs competing in Birmingham are:
Harry Guy, L'Enclume, Cartmel, Cumbria
Tom Lawson, Rafters Restaurant, Sheffield, South Yorkshire
Richard Pascoe, The Feversham Arms Hotel, Helmsley, North Yorkshire
Ben Queen-Fryer, The Coach House Café & Bistro, Ulverston, Cumbria
Sam Rush, The Banningham Crown, Banningham, Norfolk
Dion Wyn Jones, Crewe Hall Hotel, Crewe, Cheshire
Judges will be Alain Roux, Angela Hartnett and Steve Love (Roux Scholar 1997).
The chefs competing in London are:
James Devine, Black Cat Restaurant, Ballygawley, Co Tyrone
Scott Dineen, Goldman Sachs, (BaxterStorey), London
Gavin Edney, Cliveden House, Taplow, Berkshire
Luke Fouracre, Burford Bridge Hotel, Dorking, Surrey
Sabrina Gidda, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, (Restaurant Associates), London
Ollie Hay, Clifford Chance (Restaurant Associates), London
Win Hai Lau, The Shepherd & Dog, Stowmarket, Suffolk
Daniel Lee, JP Morgan, (Aramark), London
Jozef Rogulski, The Stafford Hotel, London
David Salt, Allen and Overy, (Searcy’s), London
Sushant Sanzgiri, Hilton Hotel, Kensington, London
Ian Scaramuzza, Hibiscus Restaurant, London
Judges will be Michel Roux Jr, Andrew Fairlie and David Nicholls.