When Alex Rothnie told his parents he was quitting university to chase his dream of being a top chef, they were not best pleased.
But none will be prouder than Reinhilde and Stewart Rothnie when Alex takes his place in London on Monday in the final of the Roux Scholar, a contest that serves as a proving ground for the world’s most celebrated cooks.
“They are very, very excited,” says 26-year-old Alex, who dropped out of his geography and geology course in Edinburgh after discovering university was not for him.
“I kept it a secret that I’d applied for the competition in the first place,” Alex reveals. “I only told them once I’d made the regionals.”
Alex’s parents, who still live outside Inverurie where the young chef grew up, won’t be at Westminster Kingsway College, the venue for Monday’s final. They have a pre-arranged family holiday to France.
But they – and the rest of Aberdeenshire – will be cheering Alex on from afar as he takes a major step in a career that has already marked him out as one of the brightest talents in UK fine dining.
What is the Roux Scholar competition?
The chef, senior sous at three-star Michelin restaurant L’Enclume on the edge of the Lake District in Cumbria, will go up against five equally-talented rivals in Monday’s Roux Scholar 2023 final.
The competition, run by celebrity chef and noted buttery eater Michel Roux Jr, has a £12,000 cash prize. But perhaps even more important is the career injection afforded to the winner.
Past recipients of the Roux Scholar are a who’s who of the cheffing elite.
Luke Selby, who is now executive head chef at the renowned Belmond Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxfordshire took the prize in 2017. The 2014 recipient was future Great British Menu winner Tom Barnes.
Central to their success is an ability to perform under pressure, something put to the ultimate test in the Roux Scholar 2023 final.
Alex and his fellow finalists have already come through gruelling regional finals in which they had two-and-a-half hours to cook a dish that included a set list of ingredients.
They also had to make a dessert made from a ‘mystery box’ of ingredients given on the day.
The final ramps up the tension.
Alex will be handed details of what he is to cook just 30 minutes before the start.
He will then have three hours to prepare and present it to the judges, which this year include Michel Roux Jr as well as acclaimed French chefs Michel Troisgros and his son Cesar.
Alex Rothnie and his Roux Scholar secret weapon
It is a daunting challenge. But Alex has a secret weapon. Previous winner Tom Barnes is his executive chef at L’Enclume and has been passing on tips on how to handle the pressure.
“Tom talks about it very fondly,” Alex says. “He has really good stories about winning the competition, and the perks that come with it.”
One of those perks is the chance to secure a two-month placement in a Michelin-starred restaurant of the winner’s choice, anywhere in the world.
Alex refuses to be drawn on his pick – he doesn’t want to get ahead of himself.
But he says he’d love to work in Japan, a country with a food culture markedly different to the one he knows.
“It’s like nowhere else you’ve ever been, particularly the restaurants,” he says. “And you can’t experience what those restaurants are like outside of Japan.”
From Alford Lane to Cumbria
Japan is a long way from The Courtyard restaurant on Aberdeen’s Alford Lane where Alex started out as an apprentice while still at school.
The Courtyard is now the Da Vinci Italian Restaurant, but it was here that the trainee chef picked up the hospitality bug.
So when he ditched university he moved to Glasgow to work in the high-end Cail Bruich on Great Western Road.
It was, says Alex, the best restaurant in Glasgow and served as an excellent training ground.
And while he has risen quickly through the ranks in his five years at the highly-ranked L’Enclume, he’s keen to show his mettle in London next week.
But is he nervous? Alex is unsure.
“I don’t know how to feel because it’s very unknown what we’re going to be cooking,” he says. “There’s nothing to be nervous about yet, so that’s quite nice.
“I do want to get over and done with now. There are only four weeks between the regional final and the final, but those four weeks have felt super long.”
