Finalists Announced for Roux Scholarship 2014

The judges for the renowned Roux Scholarship have revealed the regional finalists who will be battling it out for the 2014 title in March.

Two regional finals will take place – one at University College Birmingham and the other held at University of West London, Ealing.

The chefs competing in Birmingham are:

Tom Barnes, L’Enclume Restaurant, Cumbria

Craig Beacham, The Elephant Restaurant, Devon

Adam Jay, Murano, London

Adam Rasburn, Design House Restaurant, West Yorkshire

Dylan Owens, The Church Green, Cheshire

Richard Pascoe, Oulton Hall, West Yorkshire

The judges will be Alain Roux, Steve Love (Roux Scholar 1997) and Sat Bains (Roux Scholar 1999).

The chefs competing in London are:

Sam Carter, USB Bank (Restaurant Associates), London

Shane Cooke, Credit Suisse (Restaurant Associates), London

Scott Dineen, Goldman Sachs (Baxterstorey), London

Alex Floyd, Ashdown Park Hotel, Sussex

Sabrina Gidda, AIG Group London (Restaurant Associates), London

Daniel Lee, La Chapelle (Galvin Restaurants), London

Daniel Miles, Lucknam Park Hotel & Spa, Wiltshire

David Salt, BNY Mellon (Restaurant Associates), London

James Tully, Stoke Park Hotel & Golf Club, Buckinghamshire

David Wall, Le Talbooth, Milsom Hotels and Restaurants, Essex

Jing Wang, Midsummer House Restaurant, Cambridgeshire

David White, Barclays Wealth (ISS), London

The judges will be prestigious chefs Michel Roux Jr, Angela Hartnett, James Martin and Gary Rhodes.

It was another strong year for entries, as the competition welcomes a whole host of new faces, but also some familiar ones who are back to compete. Tom Barnes, was in last years final and Jing Wang, David Salt, David Wall, Shane Cooke and Adam Rasburn all competed in last year’s regional finals.

This year’s challenge is to create a recipe to serve four people using one saddle of venison ‘fallow buck’ weighing anywhere between 1.4 kg-1.6 kg untrimmed, to be served plated and accompanied by two garnishes. One garnish must include Jerusalem artichoke and the other, a garnish of their choice, served with a sauce to accompany the dish.

Competitors will have two 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.

Six winners selected from across the two regional finals will go through to the national final, which takes place at Westminster Kingsway College, London on Monday 14th April. The 2014 Roux Scholar will then be announced at an awards ceremony held at The Mandarin Oriental, Hyde Park, London the same evening.

Michel Roux Jr said: “The standard of recipes received has yet again been astounding, the creativity in method, style and presentation will make the regional finals as exciting as ever.”

Alain Roux commented: “It was great to see so many imaginative and creative recipes using the saddle of ‘fallow buck’ venison. I was delighted to see some classic preparation and cooking methods used as well as some modern approaches. One recipe even includes a hint of chocolate in the sauce, which I’m looking forward to tasting!”

Now in its 31st year, the scholarship offers the winner a career changing opportunity: a three-month stage at a 3 Michelin starred restaurant anywhere in the world.