While the City of Glasgow College team – Antonia Macfarlane (front of house), Alan Martin (chef) and Rebecca Ward (chef) - took home the trophy for the College Competition, Mateusz Hnatowski (Restaurant Associates) impressed for the top spot in the Apprentice Competition.
All four will join James Tanner at Queen Anne Kitchen at Royal Ascot this week, followed by a day working with Adam Bateman to deliver a “fine dining experience” for “leading hospitality members” of The Directors Club at the newly opened Principle Hotel (Bloomsbury).
Hnatowski said: “It’s such an honour to win the Apprentice Competition award. After putting so much into this experience, it’s great to be able to walk away with such an impressive achievement to add to my CV.
“I’m already seeing the benefits of winning, and I can’t wait to experience our prizes which involve cooking for some of the industry’s best.”
Standing them in good stead, the chefs each endured “a series of catering and hospitality-based challenges designed to test different skills essential for pursuing a career in the hospitality industry” over the five-day final.
This included: learning about sourcing and species identification at Billingsgate Fish and Smithfield Meat markets; learning to run and work in a customer-facing restaurant with Las Iguanas; a wine course and exam; as well as planning, preparing and serving a three-course Cordon Bleu menu and wine accompaniments for 110 people in Searcys at the Gherkin.
As part of the 30th anniversary competition, winners also took home a canapés and wine pairing course at Le Cordon Bleu; tutoring with Springboard to participate in the FutureChef programme; 1-on-1 mentoring from CH&Co; and WSET Level 2 Award training in Wines and Spirits.