The Young Chef Young Waiter competition has announced the 2020 winners following delays caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

At a ceremony held on Wednesday 21 July 2021 at The Dorchester, the overall winners of the Young Chef Young Waiter UK and China & South East Asia competition for 2020 were revealed to be Peter Meechan of Gleneagles (UK YCYW Young Chef of the Year) and Marie Bouquet of TĪNG Restaurant, Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, London (YCYW China & South East Asia Young Waiter of the Year).

Head Waiter judge Simon King revealed Florian David from The Waterside Inn to be the UK Young Waiter of the Year, while Marie Bouquet of TĪNG Restaurant, Shangri-La Hotel, At The Shard, London was the title of China & South East Asia Young Waiter of the Year by Head Waiter Judge of YCYW China & South East Asia, Andy Downton. Tibor Palasti of The Sushi Bar Harrods took home the prize for China & South East Asia Young Chef of the Year.

“The standard of contestants has been exceptional from both the waiting and chef applicants,” comments Managing Director of YCYW, Sean Valentine FIH. “I would like thank personally all our partners, judges and venues for their support to help make YCYW 2020 a very special competition. I am very excited about 2021 finals being held in Dubai at the Expo event on the UK Pavilion.”

“This has been a very tough year for hospitality, yet there are fantastic opportunities ahead for our talented young finalists in hospitality,” reveals Chairman of YCYW Robert Walton MBE. “It is also the first year of our YCYW China & South East Asia event which is our first step to a truly global competition. I’m looking forward to the 2021 YCYW final which will take place in November at the UK Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai in the UAE. The new partnership with the Department for International Trade, takes Young Chef Young Waiter 2021 to a global audience, making it more exciting than ever for our competitors.”

The Young Chef Young Waiter competition, which was established in 1979, was relaunched by The Nth Degree Global last year in partnership with UKHospitality and the Restaurant Association, to promote hospitality as a career of choice, a profession and a vocation. The event is supporting The Springboard Charity’s FutureChef and the Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Adopt a School.