Young Chef 2026 National Final

13 year-old Jemima Hall from Sleaford is celebrating after cooking off in the National Rotary Young Chef Competition final 2026.

Talented Jemima had the recipe for success after impressing the judges at the national final, hosted by Rotary GB&I and sponsored by Italian food giant Filippo Berio, which took place at The Grange School in Cheshire.

Jemima was one of seven young chefs from across Great Britain and Ireland to compete in the national final, having come through three previous qualifying rounds, including district and regional finals.

In the competition, Jemima had just two hours to prepare and serve a two-course menu, which was judged by Lisa Mullins, Marketing Manager at Filippo Berio, BBC MasterChef Finalist, Anurag Aggarwal and International Salon Culinaire judge, Stuart Smith.

Jemima opted for a main course of king prawn Pad Thai served with Vietnamese crab spring rolls. That was followed by blackberry and pistachio cheesecake towers for dessert.

Jemima was sponsored in the competition by the Rotary Club of Sleaford Kesteven.