Young Central Coast student, Nicholas Smith, has taken out the 2023 Brett Graham Scholarship after battling it out in the final cook-off at TAFE NSW Hamilton.
One of three young apprentice Chefs who progressed to the finals of this prestigious culinary scholarship valued at $10,000, Nicholas is from Saddles Mt White and receives a return flight to London and the opportunity to work with Brett Graham at his Notting Hill restaurant, as well as enrolment in Certificate IV in Kitchen Management at TAFE NSW.
Currently, Head Chef at Michelin-starred restaurant The Ledbury which was voted number 14 in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2016, Brett completed his apprenticeship at TAFE and was awarded the Josephine Pignolet Young Chef of the Year Award, which resulted in his move to the UK.
Nicholas, Tyler Swinkles from Emilios Warners Bay and Lachlan Dowsett from Bistro Molines in the Hunter Hunter, fought it out in the Hamilton TAFE cookery restaurant kitchen, preparing a three-course meal for some 60 judges, food critics, media guests, dignitaries, sponsors, employers and family.
Producing a superb menu of 63-degree egg with grilled asparagus, prawn cannelloni and white chocolate mousse with green tea jelly, it was Nicholas who stole the show and was named the 21st Brett Graham Scholar.
"The feeling of winning the scholarship is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before, definitely mixed emotions but I feel very privileged. To go to London and be able to absorb the knowledge from the best in the business is an honour,” he says.
"I can’t wait to get over there and experience it all first-hand.”
