Young Chef Young Waiter winners announced

Mark Stinchcombe, brasserie junior sous chef from Lucknam Park, Colerne, Wiltshire and Ben Dantzic, head waiter at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Gleneagles have been named Young Chef Young Waiter 2010. The pair were announced the winners at an awards ceremony held at the Jumeirah Carlton Tower hotel, London. Young Chef runners up were: Second : Lahiru Jayasekara, Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, Oxford Third: Tom Parker, Northcote, Langho, Lancs Young Waiter runners up were: Second: Julien Gardin, The Fat Duck, Bray Third: Thomas Aragones, The Fat Duck, Bray During the national finals, competitors had to prepare and serve a meal for four people from a mystery basket of ingredients that included partridge, turbot, clams and muscovado sugar. Chefs were judged on their choice of dishes, balance of menu, their cooking skills and timing while waiters were judged on their skills in serving the meal, customer contact skills and wine service skills. Chairman of the chef judges was Bruce Poole (Chez Bruce), with eight other judges, including Angela Hartnett (Murano), Phil Howard (The Square), Gary Jones (Le Manoir aux Quat' Saisons), David Mulcahy (Sodexo) and Stephen Williams (The Harwood Arms). Chairman of the waiter judges was Stephen Mannock (National Skills Academy for Hospitality) with eight others including Simon Girling (The Ritz) and Simon King (The Fat Duck). The winners received a selection of prizes including £1,000 each from the Savoy Educational Trust plus a three-day culinary course sponsored by S.Pellegrino at the University of Alma, Parma, Italy. Heaadline sponsor for the competition for the second year running was von Essen hotels. New sponsors this year are Nestlé Professional, the National Skills Academy for Hospitality and Villeroy & Boch. Other sponsors are HSBC, Laurent-Perrier, Matthew Clark, S.Pellegrino, Sodexo and Wild Harvest.