Thousands of young chefs from across the globe have applied for the chance to compete for S.Pellegrino’s title of the world’s best Young Chef

Ten semi-finalists from twenty regions across the globe have been selected from thousands of applications submitted to FineDiningLovers.com.

Young chefs from over ninety different countries submitted their applications together with their signature dishes, to compete in the 2016 edition of S.Pellegrino’s global talent search to find the best young chef in the world.

The competition gives young chefs the opportunity to learn from leading talent, gain global visibility and work alongside some of the most renowned names in cuisine. The 2016 Seven Sages grand finale jury include: David Higgs, Carlo Cracco, Gaggan Anand, Elena Arzak, Mauro Colagreco, Wylie Dufresne and Roberta Sudbrack.

There’s a long road ahead until the Young Chef final in October, and ALMA – the world’s leading international educational and training centre for Italian Cuisine has been hard at work. The acclaimed cooking school divided the thousands of applications received into twenty geographic regions and selected ten semi-finalists from each region according to five Golden Rules: ingredients, skills, genius, beauty, and message.

S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 offers young, talented chefs just the opportunity they’re looking for. The programme was created by the world-famous sparkling water S.Pellegrino to reaffirm its commitment to thepromotion of emerging talents and fine dining culture across the world.

The UK and Ireland’s 10 selected semifinalists include:

1. Łukasz WÄ…cirz, Chef de Partie at Llangoed Hall in Wales with his dish: “Polish Lynx in the forest with a’Pigeon’ in the leaves and Goose with’Saber’”

2. Alfonso Giugliano, Sous Chef at Cornstone Restaurant in Cork with his dish: “After the Storm”

3. Francesco Simone Sodano, Sous Chef at Annabel’s club in London with his dish: “Octopus and Celery Salad”

4. Cornelia Suehr, Premier Sous Chef The Grill at The Dorchester with her dish: “Home cured, cold smoked Rainbow Trout with beetroot, horse radish, Granny Smith and white bread”

5. Adam Handling, Head Chef at Adam Handling at Claxton in London with his dish: “Burnt Beef”

6. Ian Musgrave, Sous Chef at The Ritz Hotel in London with his dish: “Gloucester Old Spot Pork, Langoustines, Hispi Cabbage and Apple”

7. Gareth Ruck, Chef at Hogan Lovells Fine Dining in London with his dish: “Salt Marsh Lamb”

8. Romuald Bukaty, Chef de Partie at Avenue by Nick Munier in Dublin with his dish: “Symphony of the Sea”

9. Brandon Clemens, Chef de Partie at Kaspar’s at The Savoy in London with his dish: “Pigeon, Honey, Truffle, Carrot”

10. George Kataras, Sous Chef at M restaurants in London with his dish: “Whole Turbot”

By the end of August, the twenty best local young chefs from each region will be announced as the official international finalists. At this stage, they will also be assigned a “Mentor Chef”, who will advise them on how to improve their signature dishes and help them prepare for the global finals.

The twenty finalists will compete in the Grand Finale on 13th October in Milan, which will include two demanding days of cooking in front of the Seven Sages jury that will determine the winner of S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016.

Follow the hashtag #SPYoungChef for updates on the event from across the globe