A Marlow chef has reached the UK final of the prestigious S.Pellegrino young chef academy competition.

Joshua Wilde of The Hand and Flowers, Marlow will compete in London in October, cooking for a star-studded judging panel.

The S.Pellegrino young chef academy (SPYCA) competition is a global initiative that strives to discover the most inspiring young chefs around the world.

Joshua left college in Portsmouth, where he grew up, and went straight to the Berkley Hotel in Knightsbridge.

Since then, he has expanded his knowledge through cooking in Denmark, and worked with renowned chef Monica Galetti.

He now works with the Tom Kerridge Group, having been sous chef at both the Michelin-starred The Coach and The Hand and Flowers.

Joshua is now Head Chef of the private dining room, The Shed.

He said: “The SPYCA competition is an amazing competition for any young chef to be a part of, enabling them to showcase what they’ve learnt throughout their career so far and where they want to go in the future.

"I am so excited to be in the regional final.

"I am constantly developing, learning and acquiring new skills, techniques and knowledge; and the competition means I can demonstrate my experience so far, alongside all the other talented chefs who’ve been shortlisted.

"It is a great opportunity for me to look back and see how far I’ve come in my career, too.”

The bi-annual competition and academy have the support of some of the most celebrated figures in the industry.

Judges of the UK competition this year include Jason Atherton, Francesco Mazzei, Lisa Goodwin Allen, Claude Bosi, Sally Abe, Skye Gyngell, Sat Bains.

Being selected to compete at the UK final, taking place in London on 12 October, means that Joshua joins a shortlist of 10 of the UK’s most promising chefs under 30.

Joshua impressed an international judging panel, rising to the top of thousands of applications from all over the world.

At the UK final in October, ten finalists will present their signature dishes to the panel which will select the winners of the four awards.

The young chefs announced as official finalists of the four awards will move on to the grand finale that will take place in Milan in 2023.

Throughout the months, each finalist will be accompanied by mentor chefs, who will provide them with guidance on how to improve their signature dishes and support them in their preparation for the international finals.