Liberty Group announces winners of inaugural Canadian ‘Young Chef Young Waiter’ competition

Liberty Group has announced the winners of the inaugural Canadian Young Chef Young Waiter competition. The winners of the global hospitality industry initiative move on to the world finals.

Nick Di Donato, CEO of the Liberty Entertainment Group, announced the winners of the first-ever Canadian national Young Chef Young Waiter contest (YCYW). Online contest entries ran from August through September and a judging panel of hospitality personalities shortlisted six finalists for both categories, who participated in the grand finale of culinary and service challenges at Toronto’s Michelin award-winning restaurant, Don Alfonso 1890 Toronto.

These winners move to the international stage, to compete in the World YCYW Finals on November 15 - 17th, in Monaco.

The Canadian winners are:

Servers

1. Paul Mckeand - Langdon Hall Country House and Spa, Cambridge, Ont.

2. Dunja Zdralic - Langdon Hall Country House and Spa, Cambridge, Ont.

3. Katherine Veilleux - Her Father's Craft Ciderhouse and Kitchen, Toronto, Ont.

Chefs

1. Haofeng (Tyler) Lin - Hilton Toronto, Ont.

2. Karly Ready - Langdon Hall Country House Hotel & Spa, Cambridge, Ont.

3. Brendan Tran - Richmond Station (FT) Wynona (PT), Toronto, Ont.

“We are thrilled to be title partner to host the inaugural Canadian contest, and are very proud of the contestants, and the grand winners,” said Nick Di Donato, president and CEO, Liberty Group. “Following a gruelling challenge of service and a tightly marked competition thanks to our esteemed judges, we can truly say the winners represent the best of Canada’s hospitality industry, and we are proud for them to now take the world stage.”

About Young Chef Young Waiter

The Young Chef Young Waiter competition, established in 1979, was relaunched by hospitality experts The Nth Degree Global in 2019 in partnership with UKHospitality and the Restaurant Association. The competition promotes hospitality as a career of choice, a profession, and a vocation. The competition is open to all young chefs and waiters from any background under the age of twenty-six. The aim of World Young Chef Young Waiter is simple: to uncover the absolute best young talent in our industry and help equip them with relevant skills, current knowledge and the network needed to succeed in the world of hospitality. Devised by respected professionals, the competition has a fresh modern approach that focuses on tasks and criteria that are challenging, educational and fun. World Young Chef Young Waiter highlights all aspects of hospitality. Inspiring, empowering and inclusive, we celebrate the capabilities and diversity of our amazing industry. These are the hospitality leaders of the future. Many past winners have gone on to achieve tremendous success in hospitality and World YCYW proudly supports the future stars of kitchens and restaurants. Winners, finalists and judges have included some of the industry’s great recognizable names including Mark Sargeant, Lisa Goodwin-Allen, Marcus Wareing, Adam Handling, Simon King, John Torode, Annie and Germain Schwab, Jeremy King, Raymond Blanc OBE, Heston Blumenthal OBE, The Earl of Bradford, Lord Forte, Angela Hartnett MBE, Simon Girling, Johanna Wimmer and Fred Sirieix.