Martin Carabott wins the Roux Scholarship 2018
Martin Carabott has won the Roux Scholarship 2018.
There were six strong finalists but Martin took the top spot at tonight's award ceremony at the Langham, to grab a place in the Roux hall of fame as the 35th Roux Scholar.
Martin from Hide in London impressed this year’s judges and was rewarded with the prestigious title - this was his third time in the final. The 29-year-old also joins an elite list of chefs including past winners Andrew Fairlie, Sat Bains and Simon Hulstone.
Martin has previously won British Culinary Federation Chef of the Year (2016) and was a finalist in the Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef of the Year (2017).
On winning he told The Staff Canteen: "It feels great after all the work and training I have done for this, it's finally paid off and I still don't quite believe it. I'm really looking forward to the future and the support of the Roux family."
He added: "The final was nerve wracking, I was competing against some of the best chefs in the UK but having done it before I know to expect the unexpected which helps."
Martin says that any chef thinking about entering should 'definitely' go for it, he said: "I've gone through a lot of stages of thinking I'm not good enough and here I am now and I've won it! It was a roller coaster of emotions, losing the first year I needed a lot of determination to enter again - but if you don't enter you won't win."
The final took place at Westminster Kingsway College, London and the recipe details were a complete surprise; 30 minutes before the start of the competition the finalists were given the recipe and ingredients for the main dish, Pigeonneaux Valenciennes style, vin jaune sauce, to prepare and present it to the judges.
This year's other finalists were:Ben Champkin, age 25, L’Enclume, Cumbria; Oliver Marlow, age 27, Roganic, London; Sam Nash, age 25, L’Enclume, Cumbria; Ryan Porter, age 24, Northcote, Lancashire and Fergus Wilford, age 25, Cliveden House, Berkshire.
Legendary chef Michel Guérard joined the panel of judges as Honorary President this year, alongside joint chairmen Alain and Michel Roux Jr.
As part of winning the Roux Scholarship, is invited to cook and train under the supervision of a leading chef at a prestigious three-star Michelin restaurant anywhere in the world for up to three months. Martin hasn't decided where he will go yet but he says he's thinking about Le Calandre in Italy and Saison and Benu in San Francisco.
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