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Michel Roux's Service winners revealed

Published:  04 February, 2011

After a gruelling training period, three of Michel Roux's apprentices on the TV show which spotlights front-of-house staff, were awarded scholarships with the Academy of Food and Wine.

After a gruelling training period, three of Michel Roux's apprentices on the TV show which spotlights front-of-house staff, were awarded scholarships with the Academy of Food and Wine.

Last night was the final of the eight-part BBC Two series, which saw eight young people train with the hospitality trade's finest in the art of food and wine service.

Danielle Meenagh, 19, scooped the six-month sommelier scholarship, and has been working with the Hotel du Vin group in Winchester and Chewton Glen as part of her training.

At a special screening of the final last night, Meenagh told Harpers: "Michel [Roux], Xavier [Rousset] and Ronan [Sayburn] are the only people who've ever believed in me. The opportunities are endless, it's crazy. I never even considered the industry before this. I've already got to be a sommelier in some of the best restaurants in the UK and elsewhere. It's been amazing."

Meenagh, who was working part-time in a retail outlet in Manchester before the show, said her dream job would now be to work either at mentor Michel Roux's restaurant Le Gavroche or at Heathcote's, which also featured in the programme.

Ronan Sayburn, master sommelier and director of wines and spirits at Hotel du Vin, said Meenagh's strongest trait was her customer skills. "I was worried about Danielle, leaving her friends and home comforts in Manchester to come to the sleepy town of Winchester, work two shifts a day and sleep in the staff house. But she's been doing a great job."

Roux and his assistant trainer Fred Sirieix, general manager of Galvin at Windows, were so impressed with the calibre of the trainees that they awarded three scholarships instead of two. The other two winners were 21-year-old Ashley Flay, from a council estate in Leeds, and publicly-educated James Marvin, 24.

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