A Professional Culinary Arts student from City of Oxford College and University Centre won two preliminary categories, and was crowned the overall winner, in The City of Oxford Guild of Chefs’ Oxford Junior Chef of the Year 2025.
Clement Au, who is a Professional Culinary Arts Level 2 student, won the fish and vegetarian categories in the first round of the competition on 16 April.
Clement then went on to be crowned the overall winner of the competition at the annual Guild Charity & Awards Gala Dinner at Trinity College, part of the University of Oxford, on Saturday 3 May.
The prestigious City of Oxford Guild of Chefs’ Oxford Junior Chef of the Year competition, now in its third year, is designed to discover and recognise talent across Oxfordshire.
The first round of the competition saw students tasked with serving eight canapés across four categories, which this year included meat, fish, vegetarian and plant based.
Using a set list of ingredients, the junior chefs had just three hours to create their canapés before presenting them to a panel of six judges, including renowned chefs Pierre Koffmann and Gary Jones.
Clement was crowned the winner of the fish and vegetarian categories at City of Oxford College and University Centre, where the first round took place on Wednesday 16 April.
In the final round, the junior chefs were tasked with recreating their canapés for 134 guests attending the drinks reception at the annual Guild Charity & Awards Gala Dinner on Saturday 3 May.
After producing 140 canapés across his two winning categories, Clement was crowned Oxford Junior Chef of the Year 2025 at the annual event’s evening awards ceremony.
Clement, 18, from Oxford, is studying a Professional Culinary Arts Level 2 Certificate at City of Oxford College and University Centre.
He said: “It is my absolute pleasure to win the competition. I couldn’t have got this far without the help and guidance from my college tutors.”
Paul Buckey, Professional Cookery Lecturer at City of Oxford College and University Centre, said: “The chefs at City of Oxford and University Centre would like to congratulate Clem on his double win.
“It’s great to see learners developing their skills and putting them into practice. Clem put a lot of effort into this competition and his hard work paid off!”
Gary Witchalls, Catering and Hospitality Teacher at City of Oxford College and University Centre, said: “We were all so delighted with Clem’s recent success in The City of Oxford Guild of Chefs’ competition.
“He thoroughly deserved his victory, following his extraordinary display of commitment and hard work in his preparation for the competition. We are all very proud of him.”
Find out more about our Hospitality and Professional Cookery programmes available to study at City of Oxford College and University Centre or contact Activate Learning via 0800 612 6008.
