For the second time Chefs who share – the ART of Giving is calling for entries for the Young Chef Award. A total of 77 restaurants throughout the country has been invited to participate in the 2016 competition to find our country’s most promising young chef.
A judging panel consisting of Young Chef Award Ambassador Łentswe Bhengu (right), 
Chef Jason Whitehead (left below), Chef Sue-Ann Allan, Chef Tracey Younghusband, Silwood Kitchen Vice-Principal Carianne Wilkinson, and Food 24 manager Tessa Purdon will evaluate the 77 entries from chefs between 18 – 29 years received for a canapé to the value of R25. The criteria for selecting the top seven young chef finalists are creativity, uniqueness, taste, and visual impression. The personality, the ability to take instructions from the chefs, and teamwork demonstrated by the finalists will also be evaluated. Entrants must have a South 
African ID or valid work visa, and be in full-time employ of the restaurant or hotel. The finalists must agree to be available in Johannesburg from 22 – 25 September. Entries must be accompanied by a CV, a high-resolution photograph of the canapé entry, a recipe, and food costs for 100 canapé pieces. The closing date for the Young Chef Award 2016 is 24 July.
The creators of the seven best canapés will be invited to Johannesburg, where they will be accommodated. The city of gold will be the location for Chefs who share – the ART of Giving this year, and the finalists will work with the seven chef teams preparing the charity Gala Dinner. The young chef finalists will prepare their canapés, to be served with the champagne at the Gala Dinner in the Johannesburg City Hall on Saturday 24 September. The announcement of the recipient of the Young Chef Award 2016 will be made at the Gala Dinner, after having been selected by SWISS International Air Lines Ambassador Chef Reto Mathis, Lentswe Bhengu, and the 14 senior chefs participating in the Gala Dinner.
The winner of the Young Chef Award 2016 will receive local recognition, and will be flown to Europe by sponsor SWISS to work in a Michelin-star restaurant, and to visit the headquarters of Moët et Chandon in Épernay to experience the culinary and 
oenological highlights of France. Jamie-Lee Tait of the Red Indigo Restaurant at Grootbos was the winner of the Young Chef Award 2015, with her creative pink peppercorn macaron filled with a duck liver paté and candied apples. In April she visited Paris, worked in the kitchen of Michelin-star restaurant Storstad in Regensburg, and visited Maison Veuve Clicquot in Reims, and Moët et Chandon in Épernay.
Chefs who share – the ART of Giving has been conceptualised and organized by Opulent Living Experiences’ Barbara Lenhard and Florian Gast for three years, and has raised R6,1 million to date. Top chefs from our country as well as international chefs will prepare the meal for the Gala Dinner, in teams of two, each team developing a unique menu for 36 guests, and 252 guests in total. The seven Young Chef Award finalists will each work with a chef team for the Gala Dinner. The revenue generated by the ticket sales, at R3000 each, as well as the art auction, go to worthy causes.
An exciting Chefs who share – the ART of Living has been planned in Johannesburg for this year, stretching over six days, culminating in the Gala Dinner on Saturday 24 September. Plans are underway to make the Veggie Box initiative an all-year one, to raise monies for vegetables to be planted for school feeding initiatives.
Young Chef Award 2016, Chefs who share – the ART of Giving, Cape Town. Tel (021) 433-1699. www.chefswhoshare.com Twitter: @chefswhoshare
Chris von Ulmenstein, WhaleTales Blog: www.whalecottage.com/blog Tel 082 55 11 323 Twitter:@WhaleCottage Facebook: click here Instagram: @Chris_Ulmenstein
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