Two Kiwi chefs from New Zealand’s top award winning restaurants and another about to launch his own, have been selected as semifinalists in S.Pellegrino’s presitigious Young Chef 2018 competition.
Jason Kim, Sous Chef at Auckland’s Sidart restaurant, Robert Fairs from Christchurch’s Roots restaurant and William Mordido who is embarking on launching his own restaurant Buko, created unforgettable signature dishes for the judges that saw them plucked from thousands of other entrants from 90 different countries, all looking for a chance to be a part of S.Pellegrino’s global talent search.
Last year Lesley Hottiaux, founder and chef at prestigious Auckland restaurant Apero Food and Wine, won the Young Chef Award for the Pacific region and went on to Milan to compete in the finals. Hottiaux, who beat four other Kiwis vying for the position, says the opportunity gave her and other chefs an incredible international platform to display their passion and skill.
“I feel very lucky to have participated in S.Pellegrino’s Young Chef competition and to have been a part of an amazing global experience which builds a community within the culinary arts. For a young chef starting out, the event and support that comes with taking part is invaluable. Young chefs work hard the world over to build their resumes and skill sets, so to be recognised in an international event offers boundless opportunities.”
Each young chef’s application and signature dish was evaluated by experts at the World’s Leading International Educational and Training Centre for Italian Cuisine, ALMA, in charge of the local finalist selection. The experts of ALMA evaluated the applications in adherence to the five “Golden Rules”: ingredients, skill, genius, beauty and message.
From June to December 2017 the semi-finalists of each region will compete in local challenges. Each region will have a jury composed of leading independent chefs, who will judge the semi-finalists’ signature dishes and select the best one, based on the five Golden Rules; ingredients, skill, genius, beauty and message.
For Australia-Pacifc the local challenge will again be held in Melbourne, Australia at the Crown College Culinarium on 11 September 2017.
By the end of December 2017, the 21 Young Chefs from around the globe will be announced as the official finalists, who will move on to the Grand Finale, to be held inJune 2018. Each finalist will be assigned a “Mentor Chef” (a member of their regional jury), who will provide them guidance on how to improve their signature dishes and support them in their preparation for the international finals.