Tom Kerridge and Sat Bains lead judges line-up for Andrew Fairlie scholarship
Two-Michelin-starred chefs Tom Kerridge and Sat Bains will sit on a prestigious judging panel to select the inaugural recipient of the Andrew Fairlie scholarship.
The Fairlie Scholarship will recognise the lasting contribution of the multi-award winning chef, inaugural Roux scholar and founder of Scotland's only two-Michelin-starred restaurant, Andrew Fairlie at Gleneagles, in Perthshire.
Fairlie passed away in January, several years after he was diagnosed with a brain tumour. His eponymous scholarship had been in the planning for some time and will be sponsored jointly by Hospitality Industry Trust (HIT) Scotland, the Scottish government and Gleneagles. It will be awarded annually to a male and female chef.
HIT Scotland has today announced that MasterChef: The Professionals winner and National Chef of Scotland, Gary McLean, will also sit on the panel along with head and sous chef of Restaurant Andrew Fairlie, Stephen McLaughlin and Lorna McNee. Completing the line-up will be Fairlie's own mentor and former chef de cuisine at Boodle's club in London, Keith Podmore.
Fellow Roux scholar Bains said: "From the moment I met Andrew in 1999, via the Roux Scholarship, I looked up to him. I appreciated his counsel and advice, and I admired him hugely as a fellow chef. I absolutely treasured our friendship and some of the moments we spent together over the past 20 years are some of the highlights of my career.
"The scholarship will help to carry on the phenomenal legacy that Andrew leaves behind, and mimics beautifully the amazing opportunity that he once had when he became the inaugural winner of the Roux Scholarship in 1984. The creation of a scholarship of this magnitude in Scotland is massively overdue, and I know Andrew would have been particularly chuffed to have inspired a scholarship that will recognise male and female chefs in equal measure."
Kerridge added: "I'm incredibly proud to be a part of this newly formed scholarship that is helping drive the future forward for the next generation of chefs, and I'm looking forward to helping the scholarship be firmly recognised as something that the whole industry should be proud of."
Gleneagles' general manager, Conor O'Leary; HIT Scotland chief executive, David Cochrane; and a representative from the Scottish government will also be involved in the judging process.
Applicants must complete an online form stating why they should win the scholarship and design a three-course summer-inspired lunch menu. A shortlist of finalists will then be selected to take part in a skills test.
Eligible applicants can find out more information here.
