Enter now for the chance to learn from legends like Heston Blumenthal.
Looking to level-up your culinary career? The 50 Best Restaurants Scholarship, in partnership with Parmigiano Reggiano, offers chefs from around the world the opportunity to undertake two four-week stages at two of the world's best restaurants.
The ultimate winner will spend time at The Fat Duck in Bray, United Kingdom, led by chef Heston Blumenthal, which was named No.1 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants list in 2005 and Salsify at the Roundhouse in Cape Town, South Africa, from chefs Ryan Cole and Nina du Toit, No.88 on The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2025 extended list.
Open to anyone over the age of 18 with less than three years' experience in a professional kitchen, the scholarship gives early-career chefs the chance to refine their technique and gain hands-on experience alongside the very best in the business.
Last year's winner, New York City-based Colombian chef Angélica Ortiz, won the opportunity to stage at El Celler de Can Roca in Girona, Spain and SingleThread in Healdsburg, California.
Discussing her experience at El Celler de Can Roca, Ortiz says, "It was literally a dream come true. I never thought that somebody like me – from Colombia, with no connections, not much money or industry experience – could ever work at El Celler." Ortiz will begin her stage at SingleThread later in 2026.
Applications for the scholarship are now open via The World's 50 Best Restaurants website and will close at 12:00 BST on 15 April. To apply, applicants must answer questions about their culinary inspirations, career aspirations and more. Additionally, applicants are also invited – and encouraged – to submit an optional introductory video (no more than 30 seconds long). The first round will be evaluated by a panel of 50 Best representatives.
The winning applicant will learn from Ryan Cole and Nina du Toit (left) and Heston Blumenthal (right)
After that, 25 applicants will be asked to create a recipe featuring Parmigiano Reggiano and to film themselves making this dish. The resulting video will be reviewed by 50 Best and representatives of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium.
A final shortlist of five candidates will then be invited to interview, with three finalists invited to The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2026 in November, where the ultimate winner will be announced live on stage in front of the world's top chefs.
"When the presenter called my name and announced that I had won, that was a truly great moment," reflects Ortiz, who received her award from one of her culinary heroes: celebrated pastry chef and co-owner of El Celler de Can Roca, Jordi Roca.
"Jordi got down on his knees when he handed me the award. He's a real character," she says. "Now that I've worked alongside him, I can say he really is like that every day."
When it was time to design a dish featuring Parmigiano Reggiano, Ortiz looked inward, drawing from her experiences taking part in a research project to Colombia's Boyacá region, where she studied the area's traditional cuisine. The result was her take on an arepa Boyacense, incorporating Parmigiano Reggiano and queso paipa, the fresh cheese for which this region is known. "Queso paipa, which comes from Boyacá, is the only DPO [protected designation of origin] Colombian cheese, so it made sense to me to put it into conversation with Parmigiano Reggiano," Ortiz says.
During her stage at El Celler de Can Roca, Ortiz met legendary chef Joan Roca and took in Girona's beautiful sights
Ortiz's advice for this year's applicants? Be yourself. Having previously headed up a team of 300 people in the Medellin mayor's office, she is a passionate advocate for women's rights and showed that fervour in her application. "I tried to communicate that we need greater visibility of women in kitchens are greater awareness of the difficulties women are facing in the industry.
"I really told my story in my application."
The 50 Best Restaurants Scholarship 2026 is open now. Applications close on 15 April at 12:00 BST.
