Hastings woman goes from Waitress to being in running to be crowned best young chef in Britain
A chef from Hastings has won through to the semi-finals of a prestigious competition to find Britain’s best young chef.
The Roux Scholarship is seen as the most prized cookery competition for young chefs aged between 22 and 30.
Jasmin Layzell was educated in Hastings at East Sussex College and her first job was as a waitress in the town, at Old Town Fryer. She now works at The Dysart Petersham in Richmond (SW London). The restaurant, beside Richmond Park, has just retained it's Michelin star for the 7th year in a row.
The Dysart has a long history as a public house and Inn, for some 300 years, starting life as a simple Georgian farmhouse. The Georgian buildings were knocked down at the turn of the nineteenth/twentieth centuries and replaced by a grand Arts and Crafts building, designed by a Suffolk-based Arts and Crafts architect.
Now in its 42nd year, the Young Chef competition is widely regarded as ‘the holy grail’ by many in the industry with a host of former winners now running their own restaurants and earning Michelin stars.
It’s being judged by Michel Roux Jnr (MasterChef: The Professionals, Saturday Kitchen, Food and Drink, Roux Down the River), Angela Hartnett OBE (Great British Menu), Brian Turner CBE (Ready, Steady, Cook) and James Martin (James Martin’s Saturday Morning), among others.
Jasmin will compete in the semi-finals in London on Thursday March 5, 2026.