Academy of Food & Wine reveals finalists for two competitions

The Academy of Food & Wine (AFW) has named the finalists for the 2010 Gastronomy Team of the Year and the Future Stars of Gastronomy competitions.

For the Gastronomy of the Year challenge, the teams have each won their regional heat and will now compete in a 'cook & serve' final on 19 July at Westminster Kingsway College, London, where they will present a two-course menu with wines to a panel of judges.

Their dishes must include Discover the Origin PDO ingredients parma ham and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and must be accompanied by a burgundy, port or wine from the Douro Valley, also part of the Discover the Origin campaign.

The panel of judges will be looking for dishes that demonstrate careful consideration of ingredients, seasonality, balance of flavours, innovation and that are served with complementary wines. The judges will quiz the teams on their choice of ingredients, details of how they worked together to develop the dishes and their chosen wines. 

The finalists for the Gastronomy contest are:

• Andaz, London - head chef Kadir Konuk and head sommelier Joris Beijn
• Fifth Floor, Harvey Nichols, London - chef Jan Kaplan and head sommelier Patrick Salles
• Hotel TerraVina, Hampshire - chef de partie Neil Cooper and sommelier Laurent Richet
• Saffron, Birmingham - executive chef Sudha Shankar Saha and sommelier Aklasul Momin
• Summer Lodge, Dorset - executive chef Steven Titman and head sommelier Clement Robert.

The winning team's establishment will receive an Academy training bursary of £3,000, along with the team's personal prize of a 10-day trip to France, Portugal and Italy. The runner-up's establishment will receive a £2,000 Academy training bursary.

And on 19 July the winners of the Academy's junior chef/waiter competition, Future Stars of Gastronomy, will also be announced. This competition was open to chef and front-of-house students from any college or university.

The finalists are:

• Preston College – student chef Sam Nelson and student sommelier Sophie White
• Thames Valley University – student chef Tom Allerton and student sommelier Gareth Pugh
• University College of Birmingham – student chef Enming Liang and student sommelier Adam Finney
• Walsall College of Arts & Technology – student chef Stuart Morris and student sommelier James Boulton
• West Suffolk College – student chef Shaun Warner and student sommelier Blakenee Green
• Westminster Kingsway College – student chef Jack Howe and student sommelier James O'keeffe.

The winning college will receive an Academy of Food & Wine training bursary of £3,000 together with the winning team's personal prize of a 10-day trip, courtesy of Discover the Origin, to gain an insight and understanding into the history and provenance behind the products of the PDO campaign.

Words: Maria Bracken

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