An initiative to support the next generation of chefs has been launched by two highly respected hospitality businesses – with a whopping £10K prize pot.
Plated, by Goodfellow & Goodfellow and TRUEfoods is a competition aimed at giving young chefs a national platform to showcase their talent, plating and creative skills – and has already been backed by Michelin-starred chefs such as Jason Atherton, who will sit on the judging panel.
Founders of Goodfellow & Goodfellow, Valda and Paul Goodfellow – along with managing director of TRUEfoods, Mitch Mitchell – said they wanted to provide younger chefs with the opportunity to showcase their love and passion for creative plating and give them the chance to shine.
“In our experience, it's only the chefs at the top that get any profile. We think there's a really exciting next generation of chefs out there – and we want to give them the opportunity to be seen on the national stage, said Valda.
“We want to give them that visibility early on and get them involved in something that's high profile. This isn’t just about fine dining, this is about people who put a lot of eUort into how their food looks on the plate, whether that's Indian food, French food, modern British, or casual dining - you can still make food look beautiful on the plate.”
Professional chefs who meet the eligibility criteria – which include being aged 30 or under and from the UK – are now being encouraged to submit their best photos of plated dishes of food by March 10th by emailing
[email protected]
The judging panel, which also includes Executive Head Chef of Row On 5, Spencer Metzger, Jason, Valda, Paul and Mitch - with more to be announced – will be whittled down to the top six finalists.
A live-streamed cook-oU with the finalists will take place at TRUEfoods Development Kitchen, in Ripon, North Yorkshire, on April 26th where they will battle it out in a skills test for plating presentation and taste. Whatever image or video is submitted by chefs will be the dish they have to cook at the live final.
One winner will be crowned and will receive:
• £7,500 cash
• A paid-for trip to Costa Nova’s manufacturing plant in Portugal
• A Michelin-starred dining experience in Portugal
• A photoshoot to feature in G&G’s industry publication, Portfolio
• A decorated Trophy Plate
With such a huge prize pot up for grabs, the judges are hoping to see professional chefs with a variety of different styles enter. Valda says she will be specifically looking for “passion, love and care” when it comes to plating up.
“I want to be surprised. I want to see dishes being plated with some thought and love so that when the plate comes to the table it just looks beautiful.”
Paul, co-founder of G&G, said: “It can be quite simple but the love and care to make it look beautiful is what we're after. It could be a simple scallop, but we want it to look great and some people have that care and attention to detail and some people don't.
“In our experience, it's only the top guys that get any profile. We know people who are at the top of their game - we've known them since they were young kids - and it takes time to get there.
“Trying to get noticed now is even harder, especially with all the noise over social media. You either need somebody within your organisation who's going to sponsor you and push you forward, an investor, or a backer, or it takes a long time for talent to emerge.
“Talent has to have a platform somewhere and we want to be part of that and show that we care about the next generation coming through, give them more of an opportunity to show how good they are and do something fun and creative.”
Chefs can submit three entries – and with each entry, three images or videos are allowed.
Mitch Mitchell, Managing Director of TRUEfoods, said: “We are thrilled to be working with G&G Goodfellows on this phenomenal competition – and we’re encouraging all chefs who meet the eligibility criteria to step up to the plate and showcase their talent.
“We hope to be inspired and delighted by creative plating skills in the first stage of the competition – and the final will be a real test of plating expertise and taste! Good luck to everyone who enters – prize pots like this do not come around often.”
The competition is being sponsored by Costa Nova which provides both high-end and affordable tableware to the hospitality industry.
