UK & North Europe Regional Final is on November 12

UPDATE: Discover the UK & North Europe Regional winners of the 4th edition of S.Pellegrino Young Chef.

The Regional Finals of the 4th edition of S.Pellegrino Young Chef are coming to London for the cook-off of 15 young chefs selected for the UK & North Europe Regional Final. The Region, including of the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Denmark, will see these budding talents preparing their Signature Dishes in front of a local jury panel who will select the winner to go forward to the Grand Finale in Milan, 2020. The date and location for S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2020 UK & North Europe Regional Final is November 12, London.

Here is the list of the 10 Regional finalists plus each of their chosen mentor chefs who will guide them throughout the Regional Finals.

There are 15 semi-finalists for this region, each accompanied by a mentor of their choice who will provide guidance and support during the competition. Each of the talents have passed a careful selection process by the team at ALMA, in accordance with the Golden Rules of the competition.

Nicolas Fagundes Galindo, mentor: Ross Lewis (Ireland)
Timothée Martin-Nadaud, mentor: Alexander Dilling (United Kingdom)
Oliver Serve, mentor: Thor-Inge Konstali (Norway)
Pippa Lovell, mentor: Christina Papaeconomou (Man Island)
Joshua Wilde, mentor: Tom De Keyser (United Kingdom)
Liliana Haaland, mentor: Nils Flatmark (Norway)
Luuk Hoffman, mentor: Andre van Doorn (Netherlands)
Arlen Ortega, mentor: Philip Roe (Ireland)
Rik Veen, mentor: Soenil Bahadoer (Netherlands)
Jerome Ianmark Calayag, mentor: David Ljungqvist (Sweden)
Friso van Amerongen, mentor: Joris Bijdendijk (Netherlands)
Gerard Villaret, mentor: Nelson Tanate (Netherlands)
Andrea Vailati, mentor: Brett Graham (United Kingdom)
Rasmus Bundgaard Nielsen, mentor: Dennis Rafn (Denmark)
Thilda Mårtensson , mentor: Sebastian Gibrand (Sweden)

The Local Jury Panel for the UK & North Europe Region

Seven acclaimed chefs make up the local jury panel this year for the Region, each chosen for their support of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef’s mission of nurturing the next generation of chefs and the future of gastronomy.

Jess Murphy (Ireland)
Jess Murphy is a New Zealand-born chef based in Galway, Ireland. In 2018, she was named Best Chef in Ireland, and her Kai Restaurant has a Michelin Bib Gourmand. Her philosophy at Kai is to focus on sourcing fresh, organic produce from local suppliers to create daily menus bursting with flavour, texture and colour. 

Bjørn Svensson (Norway)
Bjørn Svensson is the chef behind multiple Michelin-starred restaurants in Norway, such as Oscargate and Fuana; he currently leads the team at Galt in Oslo. He trained at elBulli, and with Gordon Ramsay in London.

Brian Mark Hansen (Denmark)
Brian Mark Hansen is the head chef at Søllerød Kro, a one star Michelin restaurant in Copenhagen where he creates classic French dishes inspired by his personal experiences. In 2013, he came second at the prestigious Bocuse d´Or Denmark.

Estée Strooker (Netherlands)
Estée Strooker, chef of ’t Amusement, a gastronomic restaurant located in Arnhem. After winning Masterchef Netherlands, ’t Amusement was her first restaurant she opened in 2011 (she was only 20 years old!). Besides, she opened a healthy eatery Eetwinkel STROOM. The Dutch cuisine with respect to craftmanship and origin is of paramount importance to her. In 2018 Estée won the "Hill Billy contest" during Librije’s "Chefs Revolution festival". She has written two cookbooks and has several culinary programs on 24Kitchen.

Frida Ronge (Sweden)
Frida Ronge is the Culinary director at TAK and UNN, both in Stockholm, leading the development of the gastronomical and conceptual vision, making Japanese food more Nordic. She is also founder of the restaurants Råkultur and VRÅ, winner of White Guide Rising Star of the Year 2013, and won the silver medal in Seven Sushi Samurai world championship in London 2010. 

Adam Byatt (UK)
Adam Byatt is a British chef born in Essex. He has two restaurants in Clapham, Trinity and Bistro Union, with one Michelin star and Bib Gourmand, respectively. Chef Byatt began his training at Claridge’s, and went on to The Berkely, and The Square. He has also made a number of TV appearances, including BBC One’s Saturday Kitchen and published his first book "How To Eat" in 2010. 

Monica Galetti (UK)
Samoan-born New Zealand chef Monica Galetti was the first female chef to lead the team at the prestigious Le Gavrouche in London. She recently opened her own restaurant, Mere, also in London, inspired by her French training, the South Pacific and her own travels. Also a television presenter, she has been a judge on MasterChef: The Professionals since 2009 and has presented Amazing Hotels: Life Beyond the Lobby with Giles Coren since 2017. Galetti is also the author of three books. 

This year’s S.Pellegrino Young Chef initiative has been re-shaped to reflect the brand’s belief in the transformative power of gastronomy. That’s why from the this edition S.Pellegrino Young Chef will include three additional awards, both at the Regional Finals level and the Grand Finale, intended to give a voice to different personal beliefs: Acqua Panna Award for Connection in Gastronomy, Fine Dining Lovers Food for Thought Award, S.Pellegrino Award for Social Responsibility 

The Finalist chosen from this Regional Final and of the three awards will be announced on www.SanpellegrinoYoungChef.com as and when they take place. 

Find out more about S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2019-2020 and via our social media channels on Facebook and Instagram and by following #Sanpellegrino and #SPYoungChef.