It’s not set up in a studio. It is not a reality show. It is, in real life, one of the biggest competitions in the world of food and hospitality. It is the World Young Chef Young Waiter competition, which for the very first time, is going to be held in India.
Inaugurated in 1979 in the UK in partnership with UK Hospitality and the Restaurant Association, the competition’s launch in India, hosted by Ajeenkya DY Patil University, was held in Mumbai.
We also had an opportunity to chat with Dr Robert Walton MBE, Chairman and President of the Restaurant Association UK. His extensive contributions are not only limited to being the longest-serving President of the Restaurant Association of Great Britain and a Partner for UK Hospitality but he has also been bestowed with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen's New Year honours list of 2007.
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We talk to Dr Walton about the upcoming competition, the evolution of the hospitality industry, his love for Indian cuisine and more…
What made you bring the World Young Chef Young Waiter (YCYW) competition to India?
It has always been a tickbox moment to come to India. Obviously, the UK and Indian cuisines go back a long, long way. I always thought that one of the reasons the UK progressed so quickly in hospitality and gastronomy was the flavours that came from India. We didn’t even know what coriander was and now it’s just a mainstay part of our daily diet almost. So India has always been a place I’ve wanted to come as a chef.
What is so unique about this competition?
It's the biggest competition in the world that brings together chefs and waiters together as a team. It’s not set up in a studio. It's in a hotel. It's in a college. So, let’s say there are six chefs and six waiters from all different parts of whatever country. They've now come together and they're the fighters. So they meet each other for the first day, maybe the morning or night before. Now they have to do exactly what chefs and waiters have to do. They have to work as a team. In a few hours, customers are coming in the restaurant and there are tables of four. So, each chef and waiter will serve a table of four. They have to learn the menu. They've got to think like a chef and a waiter. They've got to cook with other chefs in the same kitchen, so things might go wrong. Now they're in a live situation. That's the uniqueness. And of course, it's young. It's 28 years old and under.
You had started your first restaurant at the age of 24. What was your story?
I was brought up in a pub. My parents had a pub that bizarrely had nothing. I couldn't cook and my parents were terrible at it. At 16 or 17 I was at a venue and this chap was really nice guy, very smartly dressed and he asked, ‘What are you doing tomorrow? Do you fancy coming on my speedboat?’ And I saw him walking around this hotel and I thought ‘that's a good job’. He wasn't very old and he had a speed boat. He had a nice car. I might do that. So, the long and short story is that I started in London and I went in the kitchen first. I liked cooking, I had no idea. I have a flair and a talent for cooking, and I love being creative. When I was 24 there was an opportunity to open a restaurant with someone and I took it. I had my restaurant at 24. I had it for a year, then I bought another at 27.
What significant changes has the hospitality industry seen over the years and does the future hold?
When I started my first restaurant, a salad was lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes. I mean, that was brilliant. Today, of course, our markets are full of wonderful produce. In my hotel, which is in the Southwest of England, we try and buy produce within 25 miles. I don't go anywhere else. Just being sustainable, looking at your local farmers, trying to keep us from the future of waste, etcetera, all of these buzzwords of today have changed out of all the portions of where it was. The hospitality sector itself is a completely different piece to what it was when I first started. When I was 16 or 17 and I went into a kitchen, it was not really a very nice place. Crazy long hours, not very nice people, all these things have changed. Today, it’s a fantastic opportunity. There is no discrimination in hospitality because however good you are from wherever you come from, people will want you. It’s all talent-led. It's funny when I look at the way the Indian culture came to the UK with hospitality, and then the families didn't want the children to go into hospitality. They wanted them to be doctors and all. Now they want to go back to do that because it's a much cooler job.
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What is your favourite Indian dish?
In Britain, years and years ago, we all thought we were eating Indian cuisine but we were eating Bangladeshi cuisine! In the UK, about 90 per cent of what we term as Indian cuisine is actually Bangladeshi cuisine. The real Indian cuisine is mainly in London and a few other big cities and it is completely different. I can't describe the flavours because they're so different. And I think the real key, to me, in Indian cuisine is a subtle flavour, subtle spice as opposed to big spice. There's a bit of chilli and a hundred other spices and herbs, but all beautifully put together.
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Any message you would like to give to the young competitors?
It’s just the opportunity. It's a great challenge for you as an individual. It will make you very nervous. And you'll come out of it. The very first speech I ever had to do was in front of Gordon Ramsay. This is a long time ago and I am so dyslexic. At the time, I was all over the shop and I hated it, I didn't wanna do it. But after I did it, I thought, okay. I did it. There were 400 people in the audience, and it was just so nerve-wracking. That's the first thing you will be, a better person. The other thing, of course, it will give you is opportunities because people will now see you on a stage.
The competition will be judged by Chef Mario Perara and Chef Cyrus Todiwala, both highly acclaimed in their fields. It will start with an initial screening of applications, followed by the India Final and the finalist further competing on the World stage.
Celebrity Chef Cyrus Todiwala OBE DL, Café Spice, United Kingdom, said, “Indian cuisine and service standards have made their mark globally. In fact, the country has seen praiseworthy growth in culinary excellence and service standards in the last decade. We are delighted to bring this global competition to India to celebrate the immense potential of local talent on the world stage.”
“I'm thrilled to judge the creative talents of India’s next generation of hospitality heroes. This is a great opportunity for them to show the world that they have what it takes to leave a mark on the hospitality industry worldwide,” added Celebrity Chef Mario Pereira, Executive Chef, The Dorchester.
If you are an aspiring chef or hotelier and want to enter this competition, the submissions will be open till June 15, 2024. The India Final will be held in mid-July this year and the winner will compete in the World Final in November 2024.
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