Regional Finalists 2024-25

My Dish, from a village by Kerala's backwaters, is inspired by where the historic spice route shaped our rich cultural heritage. I aim to BREAK THE SHELLS of outdated mud crab cooking methods, moving beyond traditional curries. I believe every part of the crab can be utilised wisely akin to other types of meat. My signature dish combines my grandmother's traditional flavour with innovative, sustainable twists inspired by my culinary travels in Southeast Asia, highlighting Kerala ingredients.

I want to present my Cantonese cuisine background. I have four years experience at various traditional Chinese restaurants. Dim sum and traditional Chinese food are central to my identity. I aim to showcase Chinese cooking and beautiful local dried seadfood by reconstructing classic dishes into fine dining plates. Lastly, I want to convey that culinary boundaries are blurring as techniques are shared globally. We can learn from other cuisines to achieve higher culinary excellence.

I consider that the food with genuine sentiments is the most delicious, but at the same time, the most challenging to make— the cuisine that tells a story. Through my cuisines, I want to share with people the story weaved by my experience of travelling, precious memories and the island have nurtured me and raised me up – Taiwan. I wish my guests, by eating the warm delicacies, can be moved and realize that their days can also be pleasant and heart-warming.

L’Aube au féminin celebrates all that embodies femininity in all its richness and diversity. Rooted in the earth, the beetroot represents strength and resilience; in pink, it celebrates beauty and gentleness. The flowers echo this gentleness and evoke kindness through their healing power. The female duck, the centrepiece of the dish, embodies protection, instinct and freedom. This dish pays tribute to those who infuse every new dawn with light and vitality.

Growing up in Busan and now cooking in Vancouver, I am inspired by two coastal cultures connected by the sea. Through oysters, sablefish, geoduck, and especially kim (seaweed), I express the relationship between Korean heritage and the Pacific Northwest. Seaweed is the thread that ties this dish together, reflecting both tradition and innovation. Using French and West Coast techniques, I want to tell the story of my journey between these two shores.

As Mongolian chef working in fine dining in Canada, carrying the values of my nomadic heritage into every kitchen I enter. Like a modern nomad, I adapt to new environments, learn from different cultures, and grow through each experience while remaining connected to my roots. Inspired by the hospitality of the Mongolian Ger, this dish reflects my journey and my ambition to help shape the future of Mongolian cuisine on the world stage.

This dish represents me: german born i lived in Irleand for 10 years. North Sea Cod: Pan-seared to perfection, symbolizing my childhood fishing expeditions in northern Germany. Oyster: Representing Ireland, adorned with colors inspired by the Irish flag (green, white, and orange). Potato Salad with Beurre Blanc: Reflects my time in Hamburg and the elegance of Carls Restaurant. Mashed Peas: A nod to my Irish experience, complementing the traditional fish and chips.

My dish reflects my connection to my homeland, reinterpreted in a modern way.

I want to honor the resources that the world provides us through sustainable action. For this reason, among other things, I chose a veal head, a cut that is often considered "unknown," and aim to transform it using refined, high-quality, and precise techniques.

For me, the future of cooking lies in treating ingredients with respect and making use of every part of them.

Tikka Masala - a dish that started my culinary journey. It captivated me as a chef's apprentice with its layers of flavor, the first dish I mastered and the one that won my wife's heart, as the first dish I cooked for her. For this competition, I present it in two ways: whole, to enjoy it fully with all flavours present. But alongside it, a deconstructed version with all elements still present and polished, presented to highlight its individual mastery.

I would like to present this dish because it is the first dish I have offered in a starred restaurant. It is close to my heart because it took me a lot of time and trials to achieve the expected result. In addition, it represents for me a childhood memory. Indeed, my father is a baker and pastry chef. When I was little, he made pissaladières every day. I ate it often, I always loved it. Through this dish, my wish was to sublimate my father's pissaladière.

‘Quanto sei bella Roma’ is a tribute to my hometown, Rome. The title comes from a famous song about this city that for me is the most beautiful in the world. I left Rome about 10 years ago to grow personally and professionally, but my heart will always belong to it and I am happy to represent it with a dish in such an important competition. It is a traditional recipe that my grandmother used to prepare for me (Coda alla vaccinara) and which I propose in my own way, gastronomically speaking.

My dish associates two opposed universe: the "meaty" one from the Chateauneuf farm beef and the iodized one from the cuttlefish and the herring eggs
These three product prepared in their entirety will along the preparation and then degustation respond and feature them self. They will reveal their complexity and the deepness of their taste but still with a strong readability.
A key quest to the essential in the idea that “less it’s more” in this special social and environmental context.

My dish is inspired by potaje de berros, a traditional Canary Islands watercress stew that embodies the region’s rural cuisine and collective memory. Using Tenerife kid goat and a zero-waste approach, I reinterpret its key ingredients—watercress, gofio, cheese, pickles and broth—through a contemporary lens. The dish celebrates place, seasonality and local producers, showing how humble cuisine can evolve into fine dining without losing its identity or authenticity.

I am a chef who returned to his origins, and the one I want to become proves that flavor, wellbeing and respect for the sea are a single path. I believe food is how we care for one another — for the people we feed and the sea that feeds us. My Basque grandparents fished in Chile, there I found comunity and learned that to cook is to give care. This dish carries that belief: a humble mackerel caught by hook, cooked with modern-tradition technique, nutrients that heal, nothing wasted.

I chose this dish because it reflects my roots and the story of a cuisine built on resourcefulness and memory. The sausage represents popular tradition, while galantine, born in France and once served at royal tables, brings technique and elegance. As a Madrid native working at El Bohío, I wanted to pay tribute to Madrid and Castilla-La Mancha through a dish full of identity and emotion.

Synergía is an edible representation of the true essence of a human being: HEART, LIVER and BRAIN, emotion, tenacity and intellect.

It is a visceral dish in which the intimacy of offal brings land and sea together, merging with the inventiveness of the human mind. Served in a replica of the Liver of Piacenza, Synergía pays tribute to the ritual and sacred nature of food while looking towards a bright and radiant future.

It is a signature dish guided not by trends or market forces, but by identity, creativity and passion.

The dish is the result of a creative process that gives new life to discarded glass fragments, reassembled in a symphony of transparent shapes and colours. The artichoke becomes the protagonist, accompanied by fleshy elements that enhance its intensity without overpowering it, here the meat accompanies the vegetables, not the other way around. A zero-waste vision, this applies to materials as much as to food. The ferrosity of the heart accompanied by the butter mousse complete the artichoke's honesty and freshness.

The idea of ​​this dish is to make you live an experience, the feeling of being in Sicily, involving sight, taste and smell, using typical preparations and products, such as Mauro seaweed. A message that I would like to convey with this dish is to make people understand the importance of their territory, look for products that are used less and less today, enhance and promote them. In recent years, the Mauro seaweed has become increasingly difficult to find, due to sea pollution.

Exotic fruits, barks, medicinal plants, and fish were always there, together with his people, the ancestral communities guardians of their cuisine, traditions, ancient techniques.
Today gastronomy is revaluing this legacy of techniques, knowledge of most big amazonian pantry that is constantly evolving.People who live in the cities feel that the Amazon is a distant topic. But that is not the case, we are closer to it because it is a source of carbon and regulator of global climate changes.

In my childhood, my grandparents used to have Sunday family lunches and the dish I remember the most is the tongue in sauce, served with onion and coconut sauce. In my village we always accompanied the main course with bananas, even soups. That's why my interpretation was inspired by these Sundays with the family. I believe in local products and tradition, raising the level of the products of my village with modern techniques without losing the traditional flavour.

The chinampas is an efficient and sustainable agricultural system, it is an articulated set of artificial floating islands that were built since pre-Hispanic times. Through this dish, which has been inspired by this ecosystem, using only ingredients that are grown or can be found in this place, applying techniques and preparations of Mexican gastronomy, I seek to highlight the importance of chinampas, the organic products that are grown there and also recognize the hard work of the producer.

This dish stemmed from my memory of my hometown. It started with chicken from Hetian Town and that relates to local farms and the whole ecological system. From there, it casts a light onto the Chinese farming and rural society culture.

Poultry is an important element in the dining culture for this city tucked away in the mountains. These Hetian chickens have a wild temperament and were used for imperial chicken fights in the ancient times. The farmers live in the mountains and the chickens roam around freely in the pristine environment feeding on wheat and rice grown on the farm. From my memory, these chickens are capable enough to scale trees and even rooftops.
 

China is a country with vast territory and abundant resources, and each region has its own special ingredients. This dish uses the loin of Tan sheep originally from Ningxia, which like to lick salt in the Gobi Desert.

Pickled with Sichuan pepper and spices for oil seal, with yunnan spring and summer wild bacteria made of wild cheese, fermented corn is more delicious, sweet and delicious, showing the style of Chinese wilderness.

The whole dish is like a tan sheep from the Gobi Desert, placed in the Yunnan mountains rich in wild bacteria. Corn plays the role of pastoral scarecrow, paired with western dishes and mints and herbs associated with Yunnan's native eatery habits.
 

This dish is inspired by my journey across China, from Kashgar to Hami in Xinjiang China, where I gathered inspiration from what I saw, heard, and experienced. It incorporates a variety of Xinjiang ingredients and cooking techniques, expressing my love for the region. I used the spice rub from Xinjiang's traditional whole roasted lamb to slow-cook the Xinjiang Altay lamb eye meat over charcoal, resulting in a flavorful dish.

I believe the most honest cooking is an act of memory. This dish lives in my grandmother's quintal in Curitiba, a garden that grew everything we needed. No protein at the centre, just herbs, fruits, and vegetables. I am a chef shaped not by culinary degree, but by proximity, repetition, and the daily act of being fed by someone who loved me.

Denmark is the number one country of producing meat averaging 334 kg per person per year. However, as Denmark increasingly focuses on green energy and combating climate change, reducing the consumption of mass-produced meat becomes essential to lower the CO2 index. Through my dish I want to contribute to this change and adapt to a more sustainable future.

I would like to just honestly share my idea for this competition. I understand that not everyone that applies will participate however it does not mean I could try and share my journey to San Pellegrino, perhaps worldwide.
This dish represents my memories of my grandmother that I wanted to give my twist on. I applied lessons that I learned throughout my culinary journey that hopefully tells the story and what I am still willing to learn.

Through this dish, I aim to showcase the harmonious blend of traditional Thai flavors with modern culinary techniques. It represents my journey and growth as a chef, guided by experienced mentors. The dish maintains the authentic taste and essence of Thai cuisine while incorporating innovative elements, reflecting a fusion of heritage and contemporary artistry. It tells a story of respect for tradition, creativity, and my passion for bringing a fresh perspective to classic recipes.

A personal take on the movement of food is one of humble beginnings and humble endings. Between those two points lies what I believe as a chef. Rice congee is simple, traditional, and inexpensive, yet can be elevated without losing its origins. The same is true of the tart. I started with everyday vegetables and, at the end, made exactly that. In between, I transformed them into something special, then returned them to something recognisable. That is the essence of my cooking.

The story of the dish tells my story with the cuisine. I use a culinary technique from each chef I have worked with, while adding my personal touch that I associate with the products of my native country. Which gives a textured dish, full of color with this full-bodied, powerful, fragrant juice which gives character to the dish. This dish testifies to my love for my profession, the ups, and downs, the sacrifices I have had to make for the sole purpose of living my passion.

Where I come from, self-sufficiency was a lifestyle. This dish bridges that peasant heritage with modern gastronomy, showcasing a sustainable model for the future of cuisine. Almost every ingredient comes from a rural grandmother's garden, or was hand-foraged by me from nearby woods. By practicing true sustainability through wild harvesting and traditional preservation, we find innovation in our roots. No exclusive restaurant can outshine the warmth of a grandmother’s kitchen.

Lamb Serving explores the ritual of gathering around a festive table through the lens of contemporary Israeli cuisine. Inspired by the Jewish Rosh Hashanah tradition of serving lamb’s head as a symbol of renewal and aspiration, the dish reinterprets this idea through multiple expressions of the animal. Raw and cooked preparations exist together, while fermentation and traditional techniques create depth. Inspired by memories of shared meals, bread becomes a final gesture that connects every bite

Serbia is land of contrasts. Its people know hardship, difficult soil, and scarity - but they also know pride. From struggle comes something almost irrational: Uncoditional Hospitality. When guests arrive, poverty disappears. Everything is placed on the table, and family gathers around it. And there is always Šopska salad. This dish has long surpassed the form of salad. It is prose about people, hardship, and defiance. The salad is no longer left in the corner. Now, it stands in front of you.

Through a desire to seek out and understand culture outside of my own, I have been able discover so much about myself and the food I want to create. I am inspired by the flavours/methods of the world, and I want to use what I have discovered by cooking delicious food without boundaries. Ode to Sam Yee is an homage to my partner who has shared her culture with me. This dish combines Chinese flavours with my classically trained French cooking methods. This is about creating new traditions.

The inspiration comes from my experience in Tokyo and the memory of my childhood. I’d like to present a wonderful marriage between the ingredients from mountain and ocean, and I believe humble ingredients could also be the star. I love both French cuisine and Chinese cuisine and I believe all different cuisines have something in common. So I'd like to present some Chinese poaching technique, and the way we make chicken broth. It would be a French contemporary with a Chinese twist.

I want to showcase everything i have learnt as a chef so far. I think doing a classical dish like this is unique and modern and really shows how different styles and cuisines have evolved. This really expresses how far food has come and how far i have come.

This dish represents my love for classic techniques and exploring new flavors while minimizing waste and creating a unique dining experience. I fell in love with Country Ham while living in Charleston, but we never had a good use for all the scraps. Substituting the Country Ham scraps for the more classic dried shrimp or scallops creates a slightly smokier XO that bridges Chinese cuisine and the American South, which is important to me- bridging gaps between cultures through food.

I believe great cuisine is created through balance: honoring tradition while embracing new influences. My foundation comes from French training in Paris, where I became fascinated by the Japanese influence on modern French cuisine, particularly its emphasis on seasonality, restraint, and clarity of flavor. Through peak-season cherries, plums, and duck, this dish reflects my belief that the most meaningful cooking comes from respecting the season and allowing ingredients to speak for themselves.

This dish pays homage to the fishermen and farmers of my hometown, Kerala. Full use of the ingredients grown, farmed, and fished in the region has shaped the cuisine into one that is humble and driven by the people who have been there for generations and for much of this time it hasn’t been showcased in a modern setting. Now in Chicago, I have begun to understand how hospitality and artistic expression can bring a cuisine like this to new audiences and evoke a connection to a foreign cuisine.

My dish is an initiation, a journey through a memory, a reminiscence. One day I went with my grandfather into the forest, I was young, that's when nature opened up to me. My dish will tell this story, starting with a simple trace of deer that will be found in my dish, a message borrowed from
l ́essence of a lived adventure.
I want to convey the essential message that we must understand in 2022, what is the place of responsible gastronomy in Switzerland.
 

As a child, poultry with crayfish was a dish that left a deep impression on me. Today, I reinterpreted it in my own way. My grandfather from Vendée raised his own poultry, while my Breton grandfather took me fishing. I grew up between these two worlds – land and sea – and this is the duality I want to express on the plate.

Breton lobster replaces the crayfish: the same spirit, drawn from my roots. My cooking is defined by bold, honest flavours, influences I embrace openly, and a desire to connect with people in a simple, direct way.

This dish tells the story of my journey through Switzerland. It brings together ingredients from Zurich, the city where I live today, and Ticino, where I grew up. Watching herbs grow taught me to respect nature. Quail and Farina Bóna, on the other hand, taught me the value of local products and the importance of making use of every part of an ingredient. Through the reuse of by-products and leftovers, I enjoyed creating new flavour combinations and discovering new possibilities of taste.