Taste the Atlantic Young Chef Ambassadors For 2023 Announced

The five young chefs selected as this year’s Taste the Atlantic Young Chef Ambassadors have been announced.

​Now in its third year, the programme is led Bord Iascaigh Mhara (BIM), Ireland’s Seafood Development Agency, in collaboration with Fáilte Ireland, and is coordinated by Chef Network. The aim of the Ambassadorship is to select some of our finest young chef talent and take them through a four-month programme, introducing them to the finest seafood produce and producers along the Wild Atlantic Way.

The immersive programme will allow each of the chefs to acquaint themselves with the art of seafood production, including seafood smoking techniques with Clarkes Salmon Smokery in Mayo and a site visit to Wild Atlantic Oysters’ farm in Sligo.

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They will learn about lobster conservation initiatives and see them in action on the pier in Raghly Harbour, Sligo. Additionally, they will have culinary mentoring sessions with Ciaran Sweeney, Head Chef at the Olde Glen Bar in Carrigart, Co. Donegal and take part in a fish filleting workshop with Master Fishmonger, Hal Dawson.

This year’s Ambassadors are:

• Áine Budds, a 23-year-old Kildare native and currently Chef de Partie at Dubh Restaurant in Newbridge, Co. Kildare.
• Aoife Comerford, a 22-year-old from Dublin’s North inner city. Aoife is a Commis Chef, currently on the pastry section, at Glovers Alley by Andy McFadden in Dublin.
• Nell McCarthy, aged 20 from West Cork and currently working at the Dock Wall in Union Hall, Cork and shortly due to return to Cashel Palace Hotel in Tipperary, as Demi Chef de Partie.
• Jaden Mascarenhas, a 20-year-old, originally from Mumbai, India who has recently started working at Kai in Galway as Chef de Partie.
• Fiona Keyes, a 20-year-old Dublin native who is currently completing a work placement in Germany and will soon return to Ireland to take part in the Taste the Atlantic Young Chef programme and to enter her fourth and final year of a BA in Culinary Arts, TU Dublin.

Each Ambassador will also be paired with a seafood producer to gain an in-depth understanding of their business.   

Find out more about this this year's ambassadors