Electrolux Chef Academy winners

25 Jul 2013
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< 1 min read
Ever wondered what it might be like to win a 12-month fully paid placement in three of the country’s top Michelin star restaurants? For aspiring chefs Viktorija Bernataviciute, a third year graduate at Northampton College, Jonah Keller, of City College Plymouth and Giuseppe Giorgio Finnocchio, who currently attends Westminster Kingsway College, this has become an exciting reality.

The three young chefs, all 25 and under, wowed judges in a gruelling final at the Electrolux Training Academy earlier this July when they competed as individuals while working as a team to prepare a three course dinner for the panel which included Michelin star chef Nigel Haworth, CEO of the Craft Guild of Chefs Martin Bates, Electrolux Professional’s Andy Blakemore and topchef, Simon Hulstone.

Well worth their time, effort and arduous labour, Viktorija, Jonah and Giuseppe’s prize is a 12-month working placement with Michelin chefs Tom Kitchin, owner and chef of restaurant The Kitchin, where he became the youngest winner of a Michelin star; Simon Hulstone, of The Elephant Restaurant in Torquay, which was awarded its first Michelin star in 2006, and Jonray and PeterSanchez-Iglesias, who became Britain’s youngest chefs to gain a Michelin star in 2009 at their restaurant Casamia in Bristol, aged just 25 and 23.

The only girl among the winners, Viktorija commented on her achievement, saying: “I feel absolutely ecstatic to have won a place on the Electrolux Chef Academy. It’s impossible to describe how much this means to me and I can’t wait for this life changing experience to start.”

Taking note of the esteemed academys where the three finalists are currently carrying out their culinary education, Electrolux has donated each of them an Electrolux Professional Touchline Combi-Steam oven to help train future chef students.

News of the Electrolux Chef Academy winners could not have come a moment sooner, with the growing sense that the culinary industry is experiencing a drought in up-and-coming young chefs, made more apparent by the explosion of new television shows like BBC’sThe Chef’s Protégéwith Tom Kitchin, Theo Randall and Michel Roux Jr, all competing to bring new talent to the industry.