Two Flat Whites has been a supporter of this competition for a number of years now. You can see our interview with the 2008 Lexus Young Chef of the Year winner Jake Nicolson here .

Electrolux Appetite for Excellence is searching Australia for emerging talent with a passion for excellence in the restaurant & catering industry. Each year, your chefs, front of house service professionals & now in 2009, young restaurateurs are judged by Australia’s finest chefs, restaurateurs & industry leaders.

All three category winners experience unique & career changing opportunities through overseas travel, inspirational work experiences, national publicity & mentoring. Applications are now open for 2009 . Applications close on the 24th April 2009.

The Sydney Morning Herald 2008 Good Food Guide Awards were announced today and the restaurant of the year award went to Tetsuya’s (ranked the fifth best restaurant in the world in April by Restaurant Magazine.) We were reading an article about Tetsuya in The Australian on the weekend about how he’s struck a close, family-like bond with his Queensland spanner crab supplier who he apparently visits most weekends (his spanner crab supplier was originally his ocean trout supplier in Tasmania – Tetsuya’s signature dish is confit of ocean trout).

Two restaurants gained a hat (Forty One and Restaurant Balzac), Three restaurants dropped a hat (Guillaume at Bennelong, Pello and Pier Tasting Room), and there were 16 new entries! (Azuma, Bistro Ortolan, Four in Hand Dining Room, Foveaux Restaurant + Bar, glass, Glebe Point Diner, Oscillate Wildly, Perama, Salon Banc, Three Clicks West, Artespresso, Bacchus, 55 on Collins, The Old George & Dragon, Restaurant Como and Rock).

29-year-old Jake Nicolson from Melbourne, who cooks at Circa, The Prince in bayside St Kilda , was recently announced the winner of the prestigious Lexus Appetite for Excellence Young Chef of the Year 2008 at Alexandria in Sydney. “My love for cooking grew as a kid,” he said. “My mother used to bake cakes and I’d lick the beaters. It’s the only thing I could possibly do. It’s one of those careers you have to live and breathe.”

British Michelin star chef Tom Aikens joined local food industry celebrities, including Tetsuya Wakuda, Luke Mangan and Lyndey Milan, to celebrate the announcement. Nicolson, who favours cooking fresh, organic meals from home-grown produce, beat five other young chefs in a three-hour cook-off. He prepared a chestnut and black truffle soup, a roasted saddle of highland hare and a wattle-seed creme brulee.

The finalists were required to prepare an entree and main course from a mystery box of ingredients, before whipping up a bavarois for dessert. Wakuda praised Nicolson for his three course offering. “It was a combination technique, beautiful presentation and most important, taste,” he said.

Mangan said Nicolson’s attitude and creativity caught the panel’s attention. “He shone through,” he said. “We were impressed with the product and his enthusiasm.” The win will take Nicolson to Italy, where he will represent Australia in the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup in Venice next year. There he will have big shoes to fill. Last year’s winner of the Young Chef of the Year, Melanie Gowers from South Australia, went on to win the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup.

Two Flat Whites recently attended the announcement & wonderful evening of the State Finals in Victoria for the Lexus Young Chef of the Year Awards 2008 . It was a supurb night & Two Flat Whites are proud to continue it’s support of the best award for young chefs in the country. This is a fantastic award that recognises & promotes the cream of the crop of the youth in our kitchens. The fire is heating up & the finalists for 2008 are as follows: –

Sarah Knights – Bistro CBD, Sydney (pictured)

Jake Nicolson – Circa, the Prince, St Kilda

Ben Devlin – Urbane, Brisbane

Robert Withnall – Gershwin’s, Perth

Scott Heffernan – Smolt, Hobart

Rebecca Stubbs – Enoteca, Adelaide

From the 22nd to 29th June 2008 they will travel to South Australia, one of Australia’s leading food and wine regions where they will meet the passionate producers responsible for Australia’s world renowned produce.

At the conclusion of the trip, finalists will be flown to Sydney for the national judging that will determine the 2008 national winners. On Monday 30th June judging panels made up of Australia’s most renowned and respected food industry leaders will select the winner in each category based on a gruelling cook-off for the chefs, and a demanding skills test for the waiters.

Finalists will be required to demonstrate their practical ability and capacity to perform under pressure in a real-life kitchen or restaurant situation. Read more here .