Roux Scholarship

Karol Ploch has won The Roux Scholarship 2024. The 28-year-old Sous Chef from Kerridge’s Bar and Grill in London beat five other finalists in a highly challenging final cook-off held at the Alain Roux Culinary School at The Waterside Inn on Monday 8th April 2024. It was the first time Karol had entered The Roux Scholarship and he said on winning: “It’s an amazing feeling, but overwhelming too. It’s been an amazing day – all the finalists were very close to each other, all the dishes were very good. I’m just glad mine came out well. I’m excited for the future.” 2024 Roux Scholarship Winner Karol Ploch For this year’s final, the six chefs were asked to prepare their own dish centred around poached rainbow trout and Carlingford oysters, with a wide choice of other ingredients. At the start of the competition, the chefs were shown a table displaying dozens of ingredients that would allow them to interpret the brief as they chose. The chefs were asked to ‘tell a bold story composed of minimal yet impactful elements.’ Karol during the final at Cowarth Park Karol said: “I tried my best. I poached the trout in a champagne and oyster sauce with some blanched asparagus. The cook-off was stressful at the beginning but when I started cooking I focused on the jobs to do. It was three hours but it went very quickly; it’s best to just focus on yourself and work with your commis. The timings went well, everything was on point and I’m very glad it went this way.” The Winning Dish by Karol Michel Roux Jr said: “Everyone cooked to their potential and delivered the goods. We had some individuality in the cooking of the sauces and with the garnishes too. With the amazing produce we gave them we were a little surprised we didn’t see a bit more individuality. It was a very hearty debate to choose a winner and Chef Keller brought a lot to the discussion which was why we wanted him at the 40th anniversary. His wise words were taken on board.” Alain Roux said: “It felt fitting to hold the final at the birthplace of The Scholarship – my father’s former home, now the Culinary School. We have a very worthy winner and a great scholar and someone who will carry the torch for another 40 years.” In his role as Honorary Presidents of Judges, Thomas Keller led the judging panel alongside joint chairmen Alain and Michel Jr, who were joined by Vice-Chairman Brian Turner CBE, Sat Bains (1999 scholar), André Garrett MCA (2002 Scholar), James Martin, Clare Smyth MBE and Emily Roux. Chef Keller said: “Congratulations to this year’s Roux Scholarship winner, Karol Ploch from Kerridge’s Bar and Grill in London, and congratulations to all the talented competing chefs today. Your expertise, patience and commitment to your craft are evident. You should be extremely proud of the work you displayed today. Thank you to my fellow judges, it’s been an honour to participate in the 40th Anniversary of the Roux Scholarship – an incredible milestone for the UK’s young culinarians and a scholarship that has impacted generations.” The 2024 Roux Scholarship Winner Karol Ploch with Michel Roux Jnr, Thomas Keller and Alain Roux (left to right) Karol Ploch was competing against the following chefs: Harrison Brockington, Gather Restaurant; Ben Miller, Alex Dilling at Hotel Café Royal; Jordan Randerson, The Elephant, Torquay; Liam Smith, Restaurant Pine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Evelina Stripeikyte, The Glenturret Lalique, Crieff.  From left to right: Ben Miller, Liam Smith, Evelina Stripeikyte, Karol Ploch, Harrison Brocklington, Jordan Randerson The winner was announced at an exclusive awards dinner at Coworth Park, where Roux Scholar 2012 Adam Smith MCA is the Executive Chef. In attendance was a small audience comprising the finalists’ guests, sponsors and judges, with the ceremony live-streamed via The Roux Scholarship website and YouTube channel. The winning chef receives £6,000, with an additional £6,000 awarded if they stay with their current employer for 15 additional months. They have the choice between two different star prizes: the invitation to cook and train under the supervision of a leading chef at a prestigious three-star Michelin restaurant anywhere in the world for up to two months; or a bespoke training programme tailored to the chef’s ambitions, skills gaps and interests. This is in addition to an impressive list of prizes and culinary experiences provided courtesy of our sponsors.

April Lily Partridge has won The Roux Scholarship 2023. The 29-year-old sous chef from The Ledbury, beat five other finalists in a highly challenging final cook-off held at Westminster Kingsway College, London, on Monday 3rd April 2023. It was the first time April had entered The Roux Scholarship and it was her last chance to do so before reaching the age limit. She said on winning: “I’m gobsmacked, this will change my life!” before going on to thank her family and friends including winner 2020/21 Oli Williamson who encouraged her to enter and her chef Brett Graham. “Thank you, Brett, for making me feel like I can achieve anything,” she said. 2023 Roux Scholarship Winner April Lily Partridge For this year’s final, the six chefs were asked to prepare their own dish using a variety of ingredients, along the theme of Pâté Chaud de Lotte (hot monkfish pie) – a recipe originally created by the Troisgros family. At the start of the competition, the chefs were shown a table displaying dozens of ingredients that would allow them to interpret the brief as they chose. The only ingredients they were obliged to use were the monkfish and whole black truffle. April said: “It was really tough, a tough brief. Monkfish is tricky, it’s very easy to overcook. Once I got into the kitchen I began to question my reasoning and interpretation of what was required in the brief. I began to change what I had planned and for the first hour I was still working out what to do. I wasn’t 100% happy but we are all hard taskmasters on ourselves!”  Lily during the final competition with Michel Roux Jr Michel Roux Jr said: “It was an exceptional final. I thought we were in for a good final and so it proved. We had six finalists, six styles and six very different dishes. The new format allowed the chefs to truly show off their skills and character on a plate. Given a wider choice of ingredients they all rose to the challenge and our guest judges said they’ll be taking some of the ideas back home with them to France.” Alain Roux said: “It was a tremendous challenge, they had to do it all in their own vision as they wouldn’t have come across the dish before, so it was new to them all. Textures were so important in this competition and some of the six put a lot of work into it using a very large number of the ingredients. It was amazing.” The judging panel was led by joint Honorary Presidents of Judges, Michel Troisgros and his son César, whose restaurant at Troisgros in the Roannais region of south-east France has held three Michelin stars longer than any other restaurant in the world. They led the panel alongside joint chairmen Alain and Michel Jr, who were joined by Brian Turner CBE, Angela Hartnett OBE, Rachel Humphrey, Sat Bains (1999 scholar), André Garrett (2002 Scholar), Simon Hulstone (2003 scholar). Michel Troisgros said: “It’s hard for the candidates. It’s hard for them to manage the time and not to know what the ingredients are until the last moment. It is a classic Troisgros dish but it’s a new interpretation of it. It was great to see new perspectives and creations. You have to work quickly too, and in a kitchen you are not used to, so we saw six very different styles and six very different dishes.”  The winning dish by April César Troisgros said: “The experience was great. It was great to take a step back and see what they could do and how they handled the subject. Everyone had a different version of the dish and the skills of working varied, and made them think differently.”  April was battling it out against the following chefs: Ben Champkin from The Newt in Somerset, Christopher Clarke from Core by Clare Smyth in London, Oliver Dovey from Baxterstorey in London, Sam Lomas from Glebe House in Devon, and Alex Rothnie from L’Enclume in Cumbria. April was announced winner at an exclusive awards dinner at the Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in front of a small audience comprising the finalists’ guests, sponsors and judges, with the ceremony live-streamed via the Roux Scholarship website and YouTube channel. Michel Roux Jr & Alain Roux with this years winner April Lily Partridge As this years winner April will receive £6,000, with an additional £6,000 awarded if she stays with her current employer for 15 additional months. April also has the choice between two star prizes: the invitation to cook and train under the supervision of a leading chef at a prestigious three-star Michelin restaurant anywhere in the world for up to two months; or a bespoke training programme tailored to the chef’s ambitions, skills gaps and interests. This is in addition to an impressive list of prizes and culinary experiences provided courtesy of Global Knives UK and the other sponsors.

Huge congratulations to Jonathan Ferguson for winning the Roux Scholarship 2022. The 25-year-old junior sous chef from The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant in Crieff, Scotland, beat five other finalists in a highly challenging final cook-off held at Westminster Kingsway College, London, on Monday 11th April 2022. Jonathan said “I’m happy, really happy. I freaked out a bit when presented with the dish we had to cook, but two minutes into it, I settled down really quickly. I had done something similar to this technique but with vegetables, never with protein. I think I was pretty much on point with the timings. As it was a cold dish, plating up was a bit easier. Having been in the last National Final I wasn’t any less nervous today, but I was much less anxious the night before as I knew what to expect.” Our Roux Scholarship Sponsorship Just like previous contests, we presented not only the winner but the semi-finalist and six finalists with a selection of Global Knife sets. Jonathan received our Limited Addition Chef’s Set (GCH-58/11LSP) from Global Knives which includes 10 premium knives and accessories in a real leather chef’s roll case with a leather apron. The six finalists received a set of Seven Classic Knives in Chef’s Case (G-666-KA). Michel Roux with Head Chef Rachel Humprey holding Limited Edition Kiritsuke Knives As well as the above, we donated a Three-piece set of Classic Global Knives, comprising a Cook’s Knife (G-2 2-cm), Cook’s Knife (GS-3 13cm) and Vegetable Peeler (GS-68) to the semi-finalists. All the judges were presented with a NEW limited [BG1] edition Kiritsuke Knife for the occasion. Upon receiving it Alain Roux commented “Today I took safe delivery of the beautiful engraved Kiritsuke knife you have so generously given as gifts to me and my fellow judges. We are honoured to receive these special knives and appreciate the symbolic importance of the gift. I look forward to sharing with my colleagues when I see them at the Paper Judging on 1st March. I cannot wait to put my knife to good use in my kitchen!     The Final Dish Jonathan, who was the only one of the six to have competed in the national final before, dedicated his award to the late Andrew Fairlie. He was the Roux Scholarship’s first winner in 1984 and the first person to inspire him to apply for the Scholarship. He also thanked his Head Chef Mark Donald for his support as well Stephen McLaughlin at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, where he started his career. For this year’s final dish, the chefs were asked to prepare a recipe for ‘Chaud-froid of Merrifield duck à l’orange, Chartreuse of asparagus.’ This included chilled roasted ducks, coated in a brown chaud-froid jellied velouté sauce, served with chilled individual Chartreuse of asparagus. The classic French recipe inspired by Escoffier, allowed the finalists to demonstrate their talent in numerous ways. Chaud-froid of Merrifield duck à l’orange, Chartreuse of asparagus Michel Roux Jr said: “It was a very, very tough and testing recipe. They all rose to the occasion though and showed an understanding of the classic techniques we were looking for. The winner managed to impress with the precision of his cooking and the lightness of his sauce. It can become heavy and stodgy, but his certainly wasn’t.” Alain Roux said: “They all seemed to have a shock when they saw the recipe and explanation of the challenge, but they quickly put their heads down and showed some inspiration. They all appeared confident and Jonnie’s dish was really creative and innovative. The specification was concise and we wanted to see how the chef had put their vision into the dish. The secret was to cook the duck correctly and create a tasty sauce. They needed great flavours but also textures were important, too.” The Competition Jonathan was battling it out against the following chefs: Kieran Bradley from The Vineyard at Stockcross, Newbury; Ruth Hansom, Princess of Shoreditch, London; Yiannis Mexis from Hide, London; Christos Sidiropoulos from Ormer Mayfair, London; and George Whitelock from Angler restaurant, London. The Roux Scholarship Judges The judging panel was led by Honorary President of Judges, Hélène Darroze, whose restaurant at The Connaught in London holds three Michelin stars. She also has restaurants in Paris and Provence are also highly acclaimed and hold a further three stars. She led the panel alongside joint chairmen Alain and Michel Jr, who were joined by Brian Turner CBE, James Martin, Sat Bains (1999 scholar), André Garrett (2002 Scholar), Simon Hulstone (2003 scholar) and Clare Smyth MBE. Hélène Darroze said: “It was a very challenging dish. Most of them had never cooked this way before but they were calm and not stressed and there were some really good things done in the cooking. From the best three it was difficult to choose, but the eventual winner had cooked the meat beautifully, it was perfect and the sauce was excellent too. The kitchen was very quiet and calm without stress which I was surprised about. They were all well organised and no one was late or over running which was very good too.”  The Winner The winner was announced at an exclusive awards dinner at The Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park in front of a small audience comprising the finalists’ guests, sponsors and judges, with the ceremony live-streamed via the Roux Scholarship website and YouTube channel. I Grunwerg director, Ben Grunwerg, attended the dinner on behalf of Global Knives. He said: Congratulations to Jonathan and to all the competitors. This year again showcased the very best up and coming talent in the chef community and we are proud to continue our long-lasting support to the Roux scholarship and Roux family in this extremely noble and prestigious competition. We hope the winner, judges and competitors enjoy their new Global knives! Winner of the Roux Scholarship Jonathan Ferguson with all of the judges The winning chef receives £6,000, with an additional £6,000 awarded if they stay with their current employer for 15 additional months. They receive an invitation to cook and train under the supervision of a leading chef at a prestigious three-star Michelin restaurant anywhere in the world for up to three months. This is in addition to an impressive list of prizes and culinary experiences provided courtesy of the sponsors. Find out more here: https://www.rouxscholarship.co.uk/about-the-competition/prizes/

Congratulations to Oli Williamson who has won the 2020/21 Roux Scholarship! The 30-year-old Sous Chef from The Fat Duck, Bray, beat five other finalists in a fiercely contested final held at Westminster Kingsway College, London, on Monday 25th October, after the competition was postponed twice due to the Covid-19 pandemic. It was the first time the Roux Scholarship has convened since the passing of its founders Michel Roux OBE and Albert Roux OBE KFO and, in memory of their fathers, Alain Roux and Michel Roux Jr asked the chefs to prepare two recipes that mean a lot to the Roux Family. The first, Eggs Albert, in honour of Albert Roux was an artichoke heart filled with smoked salmon, trout and truffle, topped with a poached egg and adorned with a slice of smoked salmon. The second, in honour of Michel Roux OBE was Little Flans with Snails in Green Coats. This comprised of snails and herb soufflé baked in a tartlet with beurre blanc sauce. The skill was not only perfecting the recipes but getting the timing exactly right and serving the two dishes five to ten minutes apart. The judging panel was led by Björn Frantzén, whose restaurant Frantzén was the first restaurant in Sweden to win three Michelin stars. He was invited over from Stockholm to be Honorary President of Judges and he led the panel alongside joint chairmen Alain Roux and Michel Roux Jr, who were joined by Brian Turner, James Martin, as well as previous winners Sat Bains (1999 scholar) and Simon Hulstone (2003 scholar) and and Rachel Humphrey. Alain Roux said: “We thought the two dishes paid respect to my father and uncle in the best possible way. They were favourites of theirs and became signature dishes. They made the dishes in the very early days when they opened Le Gavroche together and we continue to serve them occasionally, even today.” Michel Roux Jr said: “Oli Williamson presented his ‘Eggs Albert’ dish which would have pleased my Dad to eat. It didn’t look like the original, but every part tasted brilliant.” Honorary President of Judges, Björn Frantzén said: “It’s very difficult to do something so classic. In my book, it was an easy choice to pick the winner. There was one outstanding chef. I very much enjoyed the experience and seeing the chefs and other judges.” Oli Williamson, who has previously worked at Midsummer House in Cambridge, and Benu in San Francisco, said: “It was my first time in the competition and it’s also my last because of my age. It was really tough but great fun. I have changed my mental approach these last few days. I was very stressed at the Regional Finals and so I decided to just go for it and enjoy it and try to be less stressed. Two dishes were a lot to do, there were lots of smaller things, loads of little bits to bring together, and you needed to be smart with your ingredients.” Oli was battling it out against Ryan Baker from Maison François, London; Jonathan Ferguson from The Raby Hunt, County Durham; Ben Champkin from The Newt, Somerset; Curtis Tonge, independent chef, Chester; and Nathan Cornwell from The Barn at Moor Hall. The winner was announced at an exclusive award dinner at Westminster Kingsway College in front of a small audience comprising the finalists’ guests, sponsors and judges, with the ceremony live-streamed via the Roux Scholarship website and YouTube channel. The three-course dinner was created and prepared by the three most recent winners, Spencer Metzger, Martin Carabott and Luke Selby with support from the catering students at Westminster Kingsway College. Grunwerg director, David Grunwerg, attended the dinner on behalf of Global Knives. He said: “It’s been absolutely fantastic catching up with the Roux family, the judges, guests and sponsors again at this year’s finals ceremony. The dinner was exceptional and the finalists did such a wonderful job this year. It was a tough competition but congratulations to Oli, a well-deserved winner.” The winning chef receives £6,000, with an additional £6,000 awarded if they stay with their current employer for 15 additional months. They receive an invitation to cook and train under the supervision of a leading chef at a prestigious three-star Michelin restaurant anywhere in the world for up to three months. This is in addition to an impressive list of prizes and culinary experiences provided courtesy of our sponsors. Oli will receive a Deluxe 11-Piece Chef’s Knife Set (GCH-58/11LSP) from Global Knives which includes 10 premium knives and accessories in a real leather chef’s roll case with a leather apron. They’ll also receive a set of Global kitchen shears (GKS-210) and a Minosharp knife sharpener (MS-471). The limited-edition 11-piece chef’s set includes the G-2 Cook’s knife, G-9 Bread knife, G-21 Boning knife, GS-21 Palette knife, GS-11 Flexible Filleting knife, GSF-15 Paring knife, G-74 Sharpening Steel and GS-20 Peeler. For more information about this set, click here. Find out more about all the winner prizes here: https://www.rouxscholarship.co.uk/about-the-competition/prizes/ The five runner’s up received the fantastic Global Knives 6-Piece Knife Set with Magnetic Rack (G-2951138/M30). The 6-piece knife set comes with a Global branded magnetic knife rack and 5 popular Global Knives including the G-2 Cook’s Knife, G-9 Bread Knife, GS-5 Vegetable Chopper, GS-11 Utility Knife and GS-38 Paring Knife . The magnetic rack will comfortably attach to any wall so that the kitchen knives can be stored safely and securely. Find out more about the gift set here. Visit www.rouxscholarship.co.uk for more information about the Roux Scholarship competition.