ASPIRING young Wellington chef Oliver Smith reached the county finals of the prestigious South West Junior Chef of the Year 2024 competition.

Oliver, aged 14, attends Court Fields School and was up against seven other youngsters all aged between 13 and 15 years in a hotly-contested final held in Bridgwater and Taunton College, Taunton.

Although he did not win, Oliver was commended for his achievement in becoming one of the finalists who were judged by the college’s chef lecturer James Jones, Teals, South Cadbury, head chef Ben Champkin, and Mount Somerset Hotel, Henlade, head chef Olly Jackson.

Young Wellington chef Oliver Smith with competition judges James Jones, Ben Champkin, and Olly Jackson.
Young Wellington chef Oliver Smith with competition judges James Jones, Ben Champkin, and Olly Jackson. ( )

The competition, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary, has categories for junior chefs, home cooks, professional, young professional, and student/apprentice chefs, and also invites entries from Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire.

Competition co-founder, chef Michael Caines, who is chef/patron at Lympstone Manor, in Devon, said the standard of cooking in the junior finals continued to improve year-on-year.

Mr Caines said: “It was another very competitive final and again so inspiring to see these young chefs creating amazing food.

“Developing new talent remains one of our key drivers with this competition and it is gratifying to see many of our previous young winners go on to have successful careers in the catering industry.

“We are committed to promoting culinary excellence, nurturing talent, and championing the vibrant food culture of the South West.”

A partnership with Springboard FutureChef means county finalists have an opportunity to go through to the FutureChef regional final next January, bypassing local rounds of the competition, to compete for a place in the FutureChef national final.

The regional winner will be offered a much sought-after opportunity of work experience with Michelin-starred chef David Everitt-Matthias at his highly respected restaurant Le Champignon Sauvage, in Cheltenham.

Entries are still open in the remaining categories of professional chef, for those of any age working as sous chef or above, young professional chef, for those aged 19 to 24 years and working in any position up to junior sous chef, student/apprentice chef aged 16 to 19 years, and home cook aged 16 years and older.