Daniela Tucci, a 19-year-old pastry chef from The Art School Restaurant, Sugnall Street, Liverpool, will compete in the prestigious Craft Guild of Chefs national young chef final at the Restaurant show in London later this year.
Daniela, the first ever female winner of the North West Young Chef of the Year, successfully navigated through the northern semi-final in Sheffield to join 9 other young hopefuls from some of the UK’s top restaurants in the final.
The Young National Chef of the Year represents the most talented pool of young chefs in the UK, taking in the winners of young chef competitions from the British Culinary Federation, the Academy of Culinary Arts Awards of Excellence, World Skills UK and the Craft Guild of Chefs Graduate Awards.
David Mulcahy, the competition organiser and vice president of the Craft Guild of Chefs, said, “Young National Chef of the Year supersedes all other young chef contests as it brings together those identified as the best young chefs in the industry and gives them a platform on which to build their future careers. Not only does it celebrate young talent but it ensures that the young chefs are mentored and supported throughout, enabling them to achieve their best in the final. Winning Young National Chef of the Year firmly establishes a chef as a rising star of the culinary world both in the UK and beyond.”
Paul Askew, Chef Patron of the Art School said “I’m delighted for Daniela personally, she’s very dedicated and this is a great reward for her. It’s particularly satisfying for the team at the Art School, and is a reflection on the food culture we’re developing here. The process of the competitions is aligned to our approach at The Art School, the provenance, the seasonality, the costing then we practice the dish over again then hopefully it goes on the menu, so for Daniela to get to the final, where she’ll be against young chefs from Michelin restaurants, is really encouraging for the rest of the team and I think supports our approach”.
Daniela added “I’m not sure its really sunk in as yet. The semi-final was really tough and the standard was really high. I’m thrilled to be in the final and can’t wait to see what we’ll need to do, I’ll be getting plenty of practice in before then”.
This year’s winner will be revealed along with The National Chef of the Year at an awards ceremony following The Restaurant Show on Tuesday, October 4th.