2009 Thierry Marx Award: March 2009

Six talented young Victorian cookery apprentices have been named the 2009 finalists in the sought-after Thierry Marx Career Development Award, with the eventual winners to spend a month in France working with Thierry Marx.

Entries were received from all parts of Victoria, as well as Melbourne. The competition, now in its third year, gives the two winning apprentices a dream experience of a month’s work with the 2006 Relais Gourmands French Chef of the Year.

2009 Thierry Marx Career Development Award finalists are:

Matthew Carnell – Mercers Restaurant (Eltham)
George Bloomfield – Gingerboy (Melbourne)
Robert Tucker – Emeu Inn Restaurant (Heathcote)
Tim Squires – Gingerboy (Melbourne)
Nick Blundell – Wild Oak Restaurant (Olinda)
Timothy Witherow – The Butter Factory (Myrtleford)

As part of the judging process, finalists will receive a workplace visit from the judging panel - who will interview them, and observe their performance under normal working conditions. Finalists will be assessed and scored on areas including motivation, attitude, presentation and teamwork, along with their culinary skills.

The judging panel will be made up of sponsors’ representatives. The sponsors for the 2009 award are; Meat & Livestock Australia, Restaurant & Catering Victoria, Crown Melbourne and William Angliss Institute.

Todd Blake, CEO Restaurant & Catering Victoria says “This year’s Award has attracted nominations from across Victoria, including regional locations such as Myrtleford and Heathcote. The nominations were of a high calibre which made the judging process very difficult. Each of the finalists is a very worthy recipient and determining just one winner will be a very difficult task”.
A cocktail function to the Announce the finalist’s for the 2009 Thierry Marx Award will take place during the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival on Thursday 19th of March.

The two winners will be named in the last week of April at a luncheon at the Brasserie by Philippe Mouchel at Crown Melbourne. The winner’s will travel to France for the month of August to work at Thierry Marx’s Chateau Cordeillan-Bages in Bordeaux.

Apprentices will receive airfares, accommodation and assistance with incidental expenses while their employers will receive an allowance to offset additional staffing costs while the apprentices are in France.

The six finalists will also be given the opportunity to work with Thierry Marx during his visit to Melbourne as part of the 2009 Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. Each finalist will spend a half day working with the renowned chef at Crown Melbourne on Saturday 21st of March.