Roux Scholarship 2024 | Six national finalists announced

The Institute of Hospitality were delighted to support the regional finals of the Roux Scholarship this week. Sarah Peters FIH assisted in Birmingham, whilst Emma Ellis MIH and Lisa Bright MIH helped in London. We can now reveal the six chefs who will compete for the title of Roux Scholar 2024 on 8 April 2024 at the Alain Roux Culinary School at The Waterside Inn. All six of the finalists are new to the competition.

They are:

• Harrison Brockington, Gather Restaurant
• Ben Miller, Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal
• Karol Ploch, Kerridge Bar & Grill, London
• Jordan Randerson, The Elephant, Torquay
• Liam Smith, Restaurant Pine
• Evelina Stripeikyte, The Glenturret Lalique, Crieff

Judges

Birmingham: Michel Roux Jr, Angela Hartnett OBE, Sat Bains (Roux Scholar 1999), Simon Hulstone (Roux Scholar 2003).

In London: Alain Roux, Brian Turner CBE, Rachel Humphrey, André Garrett MCA (Roux Scholar 2002), Clare Smyth MBE, Adam Smith MCA (Roux Scholar 2012).

Judging at the University College Birmingham, Michel Roux Jr said “That was an extraordinary cook off with six very talented chefs. I think all the chefs managed the brief really well, and the use of the sweet potato and the kidneys was perfect. We had spicy, we had braised, we deep fried, we had a ragu – I thought it was all really clever. We have an incredible line-up for the 40^th anniversary final. It’s going to be epic!”

Judging at University of West London, Alain Roux said: “Today was a very exciting day, we’ve got some great talent for the final and here in London we chose the best three, they deserve to go through.
Seeing how the chefs work, their preparation, their skills, seeing their plating  is all important, but for me, the most important thing is the tasting. And the three who are going to the final nailed it.”

The challenge was to cook the recipe that the chefs submitted with their applications, using one short loin of free-range gilt pork, two fresh pork kidneys and sweet potatoes.  The recipes were blind-judged on 21st February by the Roux judging panel. They had two and half a half hours’ cooking time for the dish, alongside a dessert to serve four people, made from a mystery box of ingredients given on the day.

National final – Monday 8 April 2024.

In the final, the six finalists will compete for the title of Roux Scholar 2024, our 40^th winner, which will take place at the Alain Roux Culinary School at The Waterside Inn. For the national final, the recipe details will be a complete surprise; 45 minutes before the start of the competition the finalists will be given the ingredients for a main dish, either classic or modern, and given up to three hours to prepare and present it to the judges.

Find out more about the Roux Scholarship