SPYCA Competition 2024-25: meet the UK local jury

The Local Jury for the UK Regional Final of S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2024-25 has been announced.

Chefs Adam Smith (Woven by Adam Smith, Ascot), Lorna McNee (Cail Bruich, Glasgow), Nokx Majozi (Rosewood London), and Santiago Lastra (Kol, London) will choose the UK’s best young chef at the Regional Final later this year. The winner will then go on to compete against 14 other regional winners, all stellar young chefs under 30 from around the world, at the Grand Finale in Milan in 2025.

Now in its sixth edition, the Competition is the world’s premier culinary talent search, though a UK-based chef is yet to win the overall title. Marcus Clayton was the UK Grand Finalist at S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2024-25, with chef Lisa Goodwin-Allen as his mentor.

S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition is one of the most important events in the global culinary calendar and offers young chefs unparalleled opportunities for networking and international visibility. All competing chefs also automatically become members of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy.

Find out more about the Competition, including how to apply, here, and more about the UK Local Jury, below.

Adam Smith

Smith joined The Ritz in London in 2004 under chef John Williams, rising to Executive Sous Chef by 2012. In that time he also won the Roux Scholarship. In 2016 he joined Coworth Park in Ascot as Executive Chef, eventually opening Woven by Adam Smith, where he has created dishes inspired by classic flavors and techniques, presented in fresh, creative and contemporary ways, winning a Michelin star.

Lorna McNee

McNee, from Moray, Scotland, spent 12 years at Restaurant Andrew Fairlie in the Gleneagles Hotel in Perthshire, rising to the position of Sous Chef. She took her first Head Chef role at Glasgow restaurant Cail Bruich in 2020, where she focuses on the best seasonal Scottish produce. The restaurant earned a Michelin star within just five months of her taking on the role.

Nokx Majozi

Nokuthula Majozi, or Nokx as she is known, began her culinary career at the Riverside Hotel in Durban, before moving to London as a Demi Chef at the Intercontinental Hotel Park Lane, where she stayed for two years. She joined Rosewood London in 2014 where she currently works as Senior Sous Chef and Head Pie Maker, having worked closely with Calum Franklin. Outside of the kitchen, Nokx works with Women in Hospitality, an organization that supports and fosters the career development of women in the hospitality industry.

Santiago Lastra

Born in Mexico City, Lastra moved to Spain after graduating high school to work in a Michelin-starred restaurant. Following this, he studied and researched food and ingredients around the world, catching the attention of Noma and René Redzepi, who would later work with Lastra for the Noma Mexico pop-up. He opened Kol in London 2020, with menus that celebrate Mexico’s rich culinary identity, using seasonal British produce. Kol was awarded a Michelin star in 2022 and features on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.