The Young British Foodie (YBF) Awards has celebrated the next generation of young talent in food and drink in the UK. At an awards celebration and party in London, UK, fresh talent was recognised across ten award categories, ranging from chefs and front of house to meat, baking and alcohol.
Chef Santiago Lastra (pictured) took the Chef award for his modern Mexican food – soon to be served up in new London opening Kol – while Front of House went to Haley Sugden of The Old Custom House in St Ives.
Catching the zeitgeist
“In 2019, sustainability ran through the veins of the YBFs – #climatestrike protests have swept across the world and in keeping with the zeitgeist, we are seeing action among the next food and drink generation,” says Chloe Scott-Moncrieff, YBF co-founder, journalist and Foodservice Consultant contributor.
“Regenerative farming is no longer a small idea but a serious innovation. Chefs are discovering new dishes with food waste. In terms of produce grown abroad, direct trade has never been so triumphed.”
Celebrating grassroots
The Young British Foodie Awards were set up in 2012 by Scott-Moncrieff, Lily Jones and Amy Thorne, to recognise grassroot talent in the food and drink world. In the years since the awards have become a reference point for those looking to up and coming talent.
Previous winners include chef Tomos Parry, now cooking at his own restaurant Brat, which was awarded a Michelin star just one year after opening.
The winners are decided by judging panel made up of big hitters from the food and drink world in the UK – among them chefs, bartenders, food writers and producers who come together to assess each year’s new talent.
The full list of the YBF awards 2019 winners:
- Alcohol – Lucy Do, The Dodo Micropub
- Chef – Santiago Lastra, Kol
- Honorary – Raphael Dapaah & Kwaku Dapaah, Dapaah Chocolates
- Meat – Lizzy Douglas, The Black Pig Butchers
- Baking – Anna Higham, Lyles + Flor
- Food Sharing – Emeka Frederick & Ifeyinwa Frederick, Chuku’s
- Vegetable – Kathy Slack, Gluts + Gluttony
- Front of House – Haley Sugden, The Old Custom House St Ives
- Giving Back – Lee Wakeham, H.M. Pasties
- Fresh voices in Food Writing – Oliver Guy, Metropolitan Food Archives
Tina Nielsen
Photos: Justin D’Souza
