Mitch Lienhard wins the S.Pellegrino Young Chef USA final

Mitch Lienhard has been announced as the winning young chef in the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 USA regional competition with his signature dish of ‘roast duck with spiced orange and yams’. The Chef de Cuisine of Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos, California will go on to represent the USA at Grand Final in October supported by his mentor and world’s best female chef, Dominique Crenn.

Ten USA semi-finalists competed head to head on July 26 the Astor Center in New York presenting their signature dishes to a local jury of renowned chefs, namely; Dominique Crenn of Atelier Crenn in San Francisco, New York City-based chefs Emma Bengtsson of Aquavit, Bryce Shuman of Betony and Alex Stupak of Empellón, and the 2015 USA Young Chef finalist Vinson Petrillo of Zero George Street in Charleston, South Carolina.

“The level of creativity and culinary expertise demonstrated by all chef competitors was inspiring,” said Chef Dominique Crenn. “We were particularly impressed with Chef Liehnard who demonstrated the qualities necessary to stand out on a global stage. We feel confidently he will be a fantastic contender at the S.Pellegrino 2016 Young Chef Grand Finale.”

Upon his win the delighted Chef de Cusine announced: “I’m thrilled to represent the United States at the Grand Finale in Milan… The competitors were world class and I’m honored to be selected by this esteemed panel of judges. I’m looking forward to working with and learning from Chef Dominique Crenn and to meeting the young chefs from around the world for the competition.”

In the Milan Grand Final, Mitch Lienhard will compete against 19 other regional finalists from around the globe presenting their signature dishes to a panel of seven international judges: Gaggan Anand, Elena Arzak, Mauro Colagreco, Carlo Cracco, Wylie Dufresne, David Higgs and Roberta Sudbrack where just one talented young chef will receive the accolade of S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016.