Now in its sixth year, the Hawksworth Young Chef Scholarship is currently accepting applications for its 2018 competition. The scholarship competition is aimed at young chefs from across Canada and will hold regional heats during the month of May in four major Canadian cities: Calgary, Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto (May 5, 11, 24 and 26 respectively). Just like previous years, each city will have local culinary experts on the panel along with scholarship founder, Vancouver chef David Hawksworth. Up for grabs is a hefty cheque to amount of $10,000, as well as a stage at a world-renowned restaurant.

"I'm so grateful to the judges and culinary community for their generous support. In the past five years, we've been amazed at the level of excellence these young chefs bring to the table and are sure this year will prove no different," explains Hawksworth. "As always, I'm excited to meet these brilliant young chefs and truly proud to play a part in the shaping of their fruitful careers as chefs."

How it works

In each regional competition, 10 chosen candidates will compete, creating a main dish with particular pantry ingredients within a 90 minutes timeframe. The top two chefs from each region will move on to compete in the final cook-off that will take place in October, 2018, where each competitor will have three hours to prepare and plate four identical main course and dessert dishes in a black box-style challenge. The winner is then decided upon by chef Hawksworth and a panel of culinary experts from across the country.

Deadline for applications is Monday April 2, 2018.