"Appetite for Excellence creates a challenge for passionate young professionals to rise to"
Guy Grossi, National Judge

Finalists have been chosen in six states for the 2008 Lexus Young Chef and Lexus Young Waiter Awards, with the national winners to be announced at a gala event on Monday 11th August 2008 in Sydney. Special Guest for the evening will be prominent UK Chef, Tom Aikens.

Lexus Young Chef State Finalists:
NSW Sarah Knights- Bistro CBD, Sydney
VIC Jake Nicolson- Circa: The Prince, Melbourne
QLD Ben Devlin- Urbane, Brisbane (also 2006 runner-up)
WA Robert Withnall- The Hyatt Regency, Perth
TAS Scott Heffernan- Smolt, Hobart
SA Rebecca Stubbs- Enoteca, Adelaide

Lexus Young Waiter State Finalists:
NSW Russell Mills- Bilson's, Sydney
VIC Chris Gingell- Circa: The Prince, Melbourne
QLD Penny Grant- Isis Brasserie, Brisbane
WA Laura Broadbent- Star Anise, Perth
TAS James Welsh- Stillwater Restaurant, Launceston
SA Leanne Altmann- The Manse, North Adelaide

The Lexus Appetite for Excellence has been created to inspire and nurture the future leaders of the Australian hospitality industry. As part of the prize, each finalist will experience a five day educational tour of some of South Australia's most renowned primary producers of seafood, vegetables and fruit, lamb, beef and pork. From the 22nd- 29th June all finalists will visit producers including: Virginia Vegetable Farm; Mayura Station Waygu Beef farm; Coffin Bay Oyster Farm; Coonawarra Wineries and Berkshire Free Range Pork Farm, amongst others.

Finalists will then be flown to Sydney on the 30th of June, whereby a judging panel made up of Australia's most renowned and respected food industry leaders will select the winner in each category based on a gruelling cook-off for the chefs, and a demanding skills test for the waiters. Finalists will be required to demonstrate their practical ability and capacity to perform under pressure in a real-life kitchen or restaurant situation.

LEXUS YOUNG CHEF JUDGING: Each finalist will be given three hours to prepare three courses – an entrée, main course and dessert. The main course will be produced from a mystery box of ingredients, and the entrée and dessert will be set. At the conclusion, each finalist will present their dishes to the judges and discuss their career achievements to date and their future professional objectives.
LEXUS YOUNG WAITER JUDGING: Finalists will be involved in group sessions to identify team skills; leadership skills; and, general industry knowledge. They will participate in a food and wine tasting session; coffee making skills assessment; table service skills and sales skills assessments. Finally, each state representative will participate in one-on-one panel discussions the judges. They will be judged throughout the day and scored for each session. The person with the highest point score will be the winner.
The National chef cook-off will be held at the ACP test kitchens and the waiters judging at the Electrolux showroom, both in Sydney on Monday 30th June 2008.

Judge, Peter Sullivan of Aria Restaurant believes "the winner of Young Waiter should not only have a good knowledge of food and wine but more importantly he or she must have an innate sense of hospitality; that quality combined with a good work ethic and perseverance." Judge, Georgia North of Becasse Restaurant looks for "genuine passion for the industry and an excitement for their career path ahead" - simply, a Young Chef she would employ in her own illustrious restaurant.

LEXUS YOUNG CHEF JUDGES:
Cath Claringbold (Mecca Bah, Melbourne, Canberra and Brisbane; Livebait, Melbourne); Peter Doyle (est, Sydney); Guy Grossi (Grossi Florentino; Mirka at Tolarno, Melbourne); Fiona Hoskin (Fee & Me, Launceston); Philip Johnson (e'cco bistro, Brisbane); Cheong Liew (The Grange, Adelaide); Luke Mangan (Glass Brasserie, Hilton Sydney; Salt, Tokyo; South Food + Wine Bar, San Francisco); Lyndey Milan (Fresh; Freelance journalist); Anthony Musarra (The Stokehouse, Melbourne); David Rayner (Riverhouse Restaurant, Noosaville); Chris Taylor (Fraser's, Perth); and, Tetsuya Wakuda (Tetsuya's Sydney).

LEXUS YOUNG WAITER JUDGES:
Tony Bilson (Bilson's, Sydney); Sam Christie (Longrain Restaurant & Bar, Sydney & Melbourne); Lisa van Haandel (The Prince Complex; Circa, Carousal, and, Longrain, Melbourne; The Beach Hotel, Byron); Simon Hill (Isis Brasserie; Bar Alto, Brisbane); Trudi Jenkins (Editor-in-Chief, Vogue Entertaining + Travel); Georgia North (Becasse, Sydney); Tony Papas (Allpress Espresso; Brasserie Bread; Boathouse at Blackwattle Bay, Sydney); Luke Stringer (Oyster Little Bourke, Melbourne); Peter Sullivan (Aria Restaurant, Sydney); and, Garry Williams (Indiana's, Cottesloe, Perth).

The ultimate national winners of the 2008 Lexus Young Chef and Lexus Young Waiter will each receive a prize package that includes:-

For the chef:
The prestigious opportunity to represent Australia at the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup in Venice in July 2009 as well as a trip to visit the source of two of the world's most renowned Mineral waters, S.Pellegrino located in the Italian Alps and Acqua Panna positioned in the hills of Tuscany; a return Virgin Atlantic flight from Sydney to London, UK; one week's work experience at leading UK restaurant, Tom Aikens in Chelsea; a return flight to Tokyo, Japan and one week's work experience at Salt Tokyo; a two day tour of Champagne region, France; $2,500.00 cash; and, a trophy.

For the waiter:
A once in a lifetime opportunity to experience a trip to Italy to visit the source of two of the world's most renowned Mineral waters, S.Pellegrino located in the Italian Alps and Acqua Panna positioned in the hills of Tuscany, as well as attending the annual S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup and it's celebrations in Venice in July 2009; a return Virgin Atlantic flight from Sydney to London, UK; one week's work experience at leading UK restaurant, Tom Aikens; a return flight to Tokyo, Japan and one week's work experience at Salt Tokyo; a two day tour of Champagne region, France; $2,500.00 cash; and, a trophy.

The 2008 Lexus Young Chef and Lexus Young Waiter National Runners-up will both win an all expenses paid trip to Tokyo, Japan and one week's work experience at Salt Tokyo.