The Directors of the Lexus Young Chef and Lexus Young Waiter award are pleased to announce 11 finalists in this year’s awards.

Finalists were confirmed from the following states:

YOUNG WAITER

NSW/ACT - Jason Chow ARIA Restaurant
VIC - Jayde Phillips Circa, The Prince
QLD - Claire Horsfield Alchemy Restaurant & Bar
SA - Jai Leighton The Grange, Hilton Adelaide
TAS - Sarah Bartlett Stillwater

YOUNG CHEF

NSW/ACT - Kyle Quy 360 Dining
VIC - Jenna Abbruzzese Café Latte
QLD - Nicholas Hill E’cco Bistro
SA - Melanie Gowers Adelaide Convention Centre
TAS - David Flukes The Henry Jones Art Hotel
WA - Damien Bolger Veritas

The 11 young chef and young waiter state finalists have been carefully assessed and selected by over twenty of Australia’s food industry leaders. The judging process is a two stage process designed to ensure objectivity with the finalists being selected on the basis of a majority vote from the national judging panel.

The Lexus Young Chef and Lexus Young Waiter state finalists will soon embark on an all expenses paid tour of WA including visits to leading primary producers, winemakers and vineyards. The tour will also include a Henschke masterclass hosted by Stephen and Prue Henschke, and, a Water and Wine tasting hosted by Sanpellegrino and Acqua Panna. This amazing opportunity is generously provided by the Fisheries Research and Development Corporation; Meat and Livestock Australia; Horticulture Australia Limited; Australian Pork Limited, Grape and Wine Research and Development Corporation; Tourism WA; Henschke Wines; Sanpellegrino and Acqua Panna Water; Cullen Wines; Howard Park Wines; Ferngrove Winery; and, Little Creatures Brewery

The trip commences in WA on Monday 18th June and concludes in Sydney on Sunday 24th June in preparation for the national finals on Monday 25th June.

The Lexus Young Chef state finalists will compete in a cook-off at Electrolux’s state of the art test kitchen in Sydney whilst the waiters will have their service skills put to the test at a specially designed skills assessment day.

LEXUS YOUNG CHEF COOK-OFF

Each finalist will be given three hours to prepare three courses – an entrée, main course and dessert. The entrée and main course will be produced from a mystery box of ingredients, and the dessert will be set. At the conclusion, each finalist will present their dishes to the judges and talk about their career achievements to date and their future career objectives.

LEXUS YOUNG WAITER JUDGING

Each finalist will participate in a number of different skill sessions throughout the day designed to identify appropriate skills and general knowledge. Judging will comprise of a group session activity to identify team skills; leadership skills; and, general knowledge regarding the hospitality industry followed by a food and wine tasting session; table service skills and sales skills assessments; and, finally, one-on-one panel discussions with the judges. They will be judged during the day and scored for each session. The person with the most points at the end of the day will be the winner.

The Lexus Young Chef and Lexus Young Waiter winners will be announced at an exclusive awards presentation dinner on Monday 13th August at the Art Gallery of NSW in Sydney. Mr Mark Edwards, Executive Chef of Nobu will be special guest of honour. Part of the prize package includes the opportunity to work at Nobu London for a week under Mark Edwards and his team.

Information about applications and the award can be found at www.youngchef.com.au or www.youngwaiter.com.au