Reese Ventura named winner of Springboard's FutureChef competition
Reese Ventura, 15 years old, from St Philomena Catholic School for Girls in London, has been crowned winner of the 25th Springboard FutureChef competition.
The finals were held on 18 March at Westminster Kingsway College in London's Victoria, which saw 12 young chefs aged between 12 and 16 battle it out for the top spot.
Over the years, the competition has attracted an impressive list of alumni, including Tom Hamblet, 2023 MasterChef: The Professionals champion, April Lily Partridge, 2023 Roux Scholar, and Graeme Cheevers, owner of the Michelin-starred Unalome in Glasgow.
This year's participants had two hours and 45 minutes to prepare a main course and dessert for a panel of judges, which included Adam Handling, Brian Turner, Steve Munkley, Chantelle Nicholson and Kerth Gumbs.
Ventura, who won the regional heat in London, produced a main of mushroom stuffed chicken ballotine with caramelised cauliflower, fondant potato, purple sprouting broccoli, butternut squash and tarragon jus, as well as an elegantly deconstructed tiramisu consisting of cannoli, chocolate whipped ganache and coffee jelly.
She told The Caterer: "I'm really shy, so I was worried I'm not extroverted enough [for the competition], but everyone was really nice and so kind to me."
Her top tip for anyone planning to compete in future was to "always have a back-up plan and be on your toes because anything can happen in the kitchen".
The two runner-ups were Iris Bedford, 13 years old, from Rodillian Academy, Leeds, representing the North East, and Freya Barrett, 16 years old, from Penrice Academy, Cornwall, representing the South West.
Barrett also received the Brian Turner Award for Taste by FutureChef lifetime ambassador Turner, who said: "Today's winner created dishes that looked good and tasted good – dishes that said ‘I'd like some more please'."
Gumbs, head chef of Fenchurch restaurant, who was judging FutureChef for the first time, said he was particularly impressed by the "tender ages of the competitors".
He added: "I got a front row seat into what we have out there. What sets this competition apart is that it's been running for 25 years and it's the youth. Their ability at this particular age is a sweet spot for the next generation."
As FutureChef celebrates its 25th year, David Mulcahy, national chairman of FutureChef, said: "Still growing and capturing imaginations of people 25 years in is no mean feat. As you could see from the dishes that were produced by 12 very, very young people, the calibre is amazing, so it gives us an awful lot of faith in the future.
"There's a lot of good in this industry and as you can see from people competing, judging mentoring, teaching and Springboard themselves and the sponsors, everybody is connected to this and they want to see success."
The competition's growth over the past quarter of a century was further recognised by a series of special alumni awards.
Amber Rissman, FutureChef national finalist 2023, won Future Talent; Hayley Cancea, FutureChef winner 2013, won Services to Springboard; and April Lily Partridge, now sous chef at the three Michelin-starred Ledbury and FutureChef national finalist 2010, won Outstanding Achievement.
Partridge said it was "really humbling" to be recognised by Springboard's FutureChef, which inspired her to pursue a career in the industry.
"I started out as a 15, 16-year-old kid that liked food but that wasn't what I wanted to do. I fell into cooking and I fell in love with cooking and that started off with competitions like FutureChef. I didn't win it, and I think that's important. One person has got the icing on the cake, they've won which is a fantastic achievement, but there will be 11 people that are disappointed.
"Throughout my career, I've gone through many, many moments that have been disappointing where I've not won, but actually those were the moments that made me, and when my time came, it made it so much sweeter," she said.
"Being in the hospitality industry teaches you to be a great person with people as well and that's what makes this competition so fantastic.
"It's always about the people you meet along the way. I did various competitions over the years and probably the reason why I've got to where I have in my career is because I've been really open to talking to people and that's opened up doors for me."
The Springboard FutureChef competition began in 1999 with just nine schools and 127 young chefs.
Since then, 225,000 people aged between 12 and 16 have taken part in the contest.
