In a final separated by just a few points, young chef Emily Greenough won The Chef Stagiaire Award final at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal. She will now travel to San Francisco and Oman to stage with two acclaimed restaurants.
The Chef Stagiaire Award aims to celebrate technical ability, attitude and cooking techniques of young chefs from across the country, and offers chefs under 24 the chance to stage at the country’s most acclaimed Michelin starred restaurants. 20 chefs up to the age of 24 took part in this year’s competition.
The last two finalists staged at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal from Monday 16 June for one week, with head chef Ashley Palmer-Watts assessing the skills of finalists Emily Greenough and Craig Johnston, with Emily Greenough who ultimately took the lead to win The Chef Stagiaire Award.
In the initial stage rounds, Emily Greenough from London staged with Head Chef Tom Duffill of Michelin starred Arbutus, also in London. She spent a week at the restaurant and was highly commended by the team. Duffill commented that she had “bags of energy and a real passion for cooking” – to the point where he even offered her a job following her staging. Her success at Arbutus was mirrored in the final at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal, where she impressed with her technical ability and enthusiasm.
Opportunity to stage on an international scale
As the winner of The Chef Stagiaire award, Emily has won a once in a lifetime opportunity to stage on an international scale. Spending an all-expenses paid trip to work within the twice Michelin starred Atelier Crenn kitchen, she will now travel to San Francisco and work with acclaimed chef Dominique Crenn. In addition to this, she will also travel to Oman to work with the award-winning team at the luxury Six Senses resort for two weeks.
Emily commented, “I am so excited to go to Atelier Crenn going to America to cook as always been a dream of mine and especially to work with Dominique, it will be an inspiration. To work at Zighy Bay is the icing on the cake, such a beautiful resort and I can’t wait to go. Thank you to everyone for the support, it means a lot to me! And especially everyone at 28-50 for giving me the time and knowledge to win!”
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