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News

UH's 'Young Chef' prepares to test his culinary mettle

Practice meals and background experience help student in 'Iron Chef'-like showdown

by REBECCA DAOUD
The Daily Cougar

The Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management will host the Young Chef Competition Saturday at the UH Hilton Hotel. 

Hotel and Restaurant Management junior, Justin Yu, has been chosen to represent the University. Fourteen Young Chefs from Oklahoma, Colorado and Texas will go head to head in an Iron Chef-style competition.

Yu said he learned about the competition by accident.

"I was sleeping in the HRM lounge one day while a chef was conducting a food operations lab when I overheard them talking about the Young Chef Competition. I had seen the competition before on TV and had always wanted to do it, so I decided to apply," Yu said.

The Southwest Region of the non-profit Chaine Des Rotisseurs organization is the official sponsor of the Young Chef Competition.

Yu graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in 2005 and worked under chef Shawn McClain at the nationally acclaimed Spring Restaurant in Chicago. 

Yu currently works as chef de partie at the Laidback Manor restaurant in downtown Houston.

"I came to UH because in addition to being a chef, I want a HRM background so I can someday open a few fine dining restaurants of my own," Yu said.

Each chef will be given a mystery basket full of ingredients, which the chefs will then turn into a three-course mael for four people. The time limit is four hours.

Yu has been practicing with small mystery baskets in order to prepare himself for the big day.

"With my experience and knowledge, I am comfortable with my skill level and with being able to work on the fly, but I am also nervous, as people doing this sort of thing usually are, " Yu said.

The winner of the competition will advance to compete against the winners of nine other U.S. regions. The winner of that competition will battle young chefs from around the world.

"I think I have a good chance of advancing to the national level," Yu said.
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