Regional Finalists 2024-25

Many chefs talk about « sustainability » on media, and I am also concerned, especially when it's related to food waste. Food waste carries a social, environmental, and financial problem, as a cook, everyday we see how much food we waste from the kitchen.

During this competition, I would like to make my own creation for the purpose of zero waste: The whole chicken will be used entirely. I would like to express what we can do as a chef with our little strength and our social responsibility.

This dish originated from my love for the two countries where I spent the longest time learning to cook. The San Pellegrino Young Chef Academy, which I attended four years ago, gave me a broader vision. Having cooked in Korea, I relocated to Singapore for new experiences, and this dish captures the harmony between my two culinary homelands. I prepared it using hairtail fish, baechu cabbage, and mu radish, aiming to contribute to sustainability by utilizing every part 100% with no waste.

Nowadays, Bali is facing a massive shift in landscape and lifestyle due to mass tourism. My biggest concern is the future of our children. What is our legacy? What is my responsibility as a chef for future generations? I want to take my part in preserving our Balinese heritage, our ingredients, our local farmers, our skills, and show that mixing tradition and modernity is possible. This is why I called my dish " Go Local or Go Home ".

This plate is a representation of my core believes as a Chef, cooking with nostalgia, locally raised ingredients that are of great quality and treating them with care. The locally sourced rabbits is paired with carrots, Hen of the wood mushrooms, Swiss chard- all grown in and around the city, this is probably what the rabbit ate for dinner! The whole animal is used in the dish giving it all the respect it deserves and a true display of what food systems in the industry.

This dish is my brainchild of what my soul would look like on a plate, the mousse of the Meat Beliram is a connection to my roots in Punjab and also how I made the move to Canada by packing just my knives and my clothes. The eel is one of the first ingredients I fell in love with. The morels are the abundant wilderness of Canada and the sauce and kachori lend the child in me with flavor's which I grew up as a child, never wanting to be a chef but later loving every bit of it.

"Aai's Fish Thali" is my tribute to the coastal food traditions of Maharashtra and the women who preserve them through generations. By elevating familiar flavors such as amti, sol kadhi, wada, kokum, and seafood into a contemporary fine-dining expression, I celebrate heritage, memory, and sustainability. The dish reflects my identity as an Indian chef while showing how traditional knowledge can inspire the future of gastronomy.

I believe the future of cuisine lies in clarity rather than complexity. Through my journey from the Belgian North Sea to kitchens across Europe, I have collected techniques, cultures and influences. Over time, I learned that true refinement is not about adding more, but understanding what deserves to remain. This dish tells that story. Langoustine becomes the common thread between memory, discovery and identity, expressing a cuisine driven by authenticity, emotion and respect for the ingredient.

The dish is intended to convey an honest image of the region, the botanical garden near to the restaurant reimagining the pleasure of traditional ingredients through a variety of preparation methods.
The ingredients can be found in the immediate vicinity. The dish shows the diversity of flora and fauna. To ensure sustainability roots, leaves and innards are used following the approach of ‘nose-to-tail’. It’s intended to promote the sustainable enjoyment of ingredients and create honest enjoyment.

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 pay tribute to all the places I have lived, thanks to my family coming from many backgrounds. I chose a fish that I love. I think it’s a shame that most of the time not all the part of the fish are used.Food waste is something chefs all around the globe should fight and this is why I chose not to cook the filet. Deliciousness is everywhere.You will find everything I love in
the three cuisines: French, Lebanese and Ivorian.I wanted to show and share the cuisine close to my heart...

I have to say that this dish means a lot to me, as part of my family works in livestock farming. As on most farms, they grow their own vegetables in a family garden, respecting the rhythm of the seasons. And the season of the chard coincides with the arrival of the fir buds, with their distinctive fragrance, which I have come to enjoy on my walks through the forests of the Pyrenees. It was to express my emotions in taste that I chose to naturally combine these two products.

As am from a small island called Mauritius surrounded by the Indian ocean, known for its beaches, lagoons and reefs so we consumed more seafood. So by selecting this as my signature dish I am reviving my childhood because I spent most of my early age on the coast fishing and my passion for seafood as I love the smell of the bitter and salty sea water.As the idea of this plate base on sea, in each bite of this dish or side dish you will find different taste sea.

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.

This dish was born from my desire to reinterpret one of Aragon’s iconic ingredients and bring it into the world of fine dining. Aragonese trout is at the heart of the dish, reflecting my commitment to the region and its producers. My goal is to show that true culinary luxury lies in celebrating local origins, elevating regional ingredients and giving them the recognition they deserve through technique, respect and creativity.

My favorite part of my childhood is the sea so that was my main inspira tion for this signature dish.I really want to transmite the ocean to everyone who tries the dish, especially because I'm from Viana do Castelo and we have several tradition related to the sea as getting up early and going to the beach to get seafood from the rocks.I remember the first time I tried a sea urchin, 100% sea.I want everyone to feel that flavour, that memory and get to know better Viana do Castelo by this dish.

I believe as human being that we are very sick. Imagination and language is what did separated humans from animal.
Today peoples are not conscious of who we really are and the consequence is that we create confusion, trends and bad ego is the protagonist in this planet. Today we try to fix this planet by using one word, sustainability.
who really know the significant of that word and who first went to see inside of the most scary place of this world? I think it is better to start from us...

The concept of territory is an important thing when I think about creating a dish. I owe a lot to Tuscany, so I chose the Casentino trout. We are talking about a unique specimen bred in Stia, in the province of Arezzo, where "Puccini Trout Farming" allowed me to experience first-hand one of the most interesting products found so far. A fish that struck me so much that I really wanted to pay homage to it in all its facets, using every part of it in the name of sustainability and reducing waste.

My dish begins with an anthropological reflection. We live in an age that accelerates and standardizes. Food often follows the same path, losing memory and connection to place. This dish does not look at the past with nostalgia, but interprets an almost vanished ecosystem—carp, rice fields, and farm animals—as a lens for the present and my interpretation of rural cuisine today. In a world that rushes, I choose to slow down.Time is essential to understanding a territory and the knowledge it hold.

This dish is rooted in a dual heritage: bananas, a key ingredient in Costa Rica’s history, and my mother’s cooking. I still remember the boiled green bananas sautéed with caramelized onions that she served alongside chicharrones, a combination that shaped my childhood. Today, I use the fruit, peel, and blossom of the banana to honor that legacy and bring together, on a single plate, the memory of a country and that of my home.

Alma Patagonia is a creation that captures the soul of Chile´s southern territory. It is a dish that intertwines delicacies from diverse ecosystems, which vary from the depths of the sea, to lush fertile forests. This blend pays tribute to a culture that bases its cuisine on the available ingredients that Mother Earth provides, which must be used fully. Pure nature permeates through a combination of flavors and textures, and surprises the palates of adventurous gourmands.

Give a tribute to Arequipa's Picanterias, Picanterias are places of traditions, good food since the end of the 19th century. Show a bit of the diversity of my country, also let you know ancestral techniques unified with an avant-garde techniques, which the main objective is to give a good experience.

This dish is a conversation of humble roots & cuisine’s inclusive power, as I’m from the “wrong side of the river” in rural Shanghai & trained on the Rhône in Lyon. Vol-au-vent & Kousansi share a Chinese superior sauce brewed of Acqua Panna, topped with upcycled tuiles patterned from Song Dynasty art. I believe, in our divisive era, cuisine bridges cultures and nourishes innovation with understated depth & radical earnestness, respecting ingredients & welcoming all to drink from a shared well.

The dish I present is Peony Yan Cai, a classic Henan specialty once served at state banquets. Following the traditional recipe, I have enhanced it with premium sea cucumber while preserving its original essence. As a young chef from Yunnan mentored by a Henan chef, I see this dish as a tribute to tradition, mentorship and craftsmanship. It reflects my belief in respecting culinary heritage while thoughtfully adapting it for today's diners, bridging northern and southern Chinese cuisine.

This dish reflects my understanding of Lingnan culinary culture, where chicken symbolizes reunion, hospitality and inheritance. By pairing Qingyuan chicken with seasonal ingredients and reinterpreting classic preparations, I aim to tell a story rooted in Guangdong’s traditions, landscapes and sense of home. I believe traditional flavors can be reinterpreted and passed on in a contemporary way. To me, this is not merely a chicken dish, but a memory and emotion that belong to Lingnan.

I am a chef driven by curiosity, and respect for ingredients. Today, I shape my identity through Nordic flavors and technical performance. In the future, I aim to become a chef who unites craftsmanship and sustainable, creates experiences that move people, and contributes to pushing gastronomy forward.

Chicken and buckwheat is one of the cheapest healthy meal options that is very common to cook among people in Estonia. However, the way it is cooked is usually very boring and not very pleasant to eat. With this dish, I tried to take these simple ingredients and create something new. I want to showcase that despite the importance of high quality ingredients, chefs are the ones who actually make the difference and create new dishes.

Knowledge makes you respect the raw materials, if you know how we produce food we also learn to treat it with respect. Knowledge is power to respect different people, countries and finally the globe.

This dish is influenced by a region of India called Kashmir. It is inspired by its rich culture, cooking style and ingredients that grow around there. Through this dish, I want to express how influences of different countries and cultures has created the rich history of Kashmir. Complexity in the concept, simplicity in the execution is what that I want this dish to cry out. Exploring deep into their culture, taking inspiration and applying my own creativity and style has formed this idea.

“Before Sustainability Was a Trend” reflects how Asian food cultures have long embodied sustainability through preservation, seasonality, and respect for ingredients. My selection of ingredients and techniques aims to reinterpret these principles while being guided by my Asian heritage and Australian upbringing. Highlighting biodiversity, whole animal utilisation and cultural continuity through combining old and new is how I hope to shape a more conscious future as a chef now and moving forward.

Driven by the understanding that we are the kaitiaki of rivers and oceans, this plate challenges how we care for our resources. It confronts past mistakes like the devastating overfishing of whitebait, which was once used as common garden fertiliser. Jackson has chosen to use abundant Australian ingredients to recreate childhood memories responsibly. This dish utilises zero-waste techniques to blend childhood playfulness with a commitment to ecological preservation.

The Pig's Alms is a sacred ritual deeply rooted in our country's folklore and tradition, people have forgotten about what it means, it is supposed to be about honoring and showing gratitude toward the animal that has given his life for us to survive. I would like with this dish to bring attention to this lost respect towards nature and what it offers us.The dish's flavours represent my cultural gastronomic heritage and origins, the taste of my home,of my childhood and my memories.

This dish is my culinary signature and a tribute to Slovenia. It features ingredients deeply rooted in our land and the collective memory of our people. Reflecting where I grew up and create today, the plate mirrors my evolution as a chef. My goal is to make modern gastronomy approachable, telling a story that is simple yet complex, boutique yet intriguing. Through the lens of the past, these elements narrate our present and forecast a future where modern dining feels like home to everyone.

Working in Mano2, the initiative behind micro seasonality, zero waste and preserving food and flavor through various fermentation techniques began the concept behind this dish. The inspiration behind the story comes from the fall season in continental Croatia where there is a rich abundance of various mushrooms, wild herbs and vegetables. We have showcased them using techniques seen in Mano2 which have preserved and fully expressed its soul purpose while also using the ingredients as a whole.

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.

The message I'm trying to express through my dish is that although its been said that crabs and lobsters are becoming more unsustainable due to fishing nets. I believe we can change this through designated areas of non-fishing , which will ensure crabs and lobsters become more sustainable. Crabs have been around for millions of years and its only know, due to their popularity and over fishing that we face declining numbers.

Inspired by childhood walks in the New Forest, this dish reflects my connection to seasonality, place, and craft. Venison represents both the forest and the first protein I learnt to prepare professionally at sixteen. Wild mushrooms are fully utilised, with trim transformed into a parfait to reflect a zero-waste approach. A venison ragù inside delicate pasta honours my Italian grandmother, while mushroom tea captures the aroma of the forest after rain.

From the Valley to the Shoreline reflects my culinary identity as a chef working in Napa Valley. Through wild California razor clams, local verjuice, coastal seaweeds, and vine shoots, I express the connection between land and sea. This dish celebrates local producers, seasonality, and a product-driven approach rooted in French technique while looking toward a more sustainable future for fine dining.

My childhood was based on different gastronomic backgrounds about sharing with family and friends around food, they know me as a seafood lover. The translation of “Plebe bichi” is “naked boy”, from the slang of the northwest coast of Mexico, referring to me as a little boy and how I came to the world (naked), and how all this journey that we call life starts giving you an identity. I adapted my grandma’s east-style tamal recipe to a northwest Mexican tamal from my mom's hometown as a gratitude.

I want to express the courage to work with nonconformity, taking a classic plate form my country with products that we barely use and remade it with new techniques and thoughts but keeping the amazing flavor of the main components so you can transport yourself to Catalunya.
The message is to bring back the forgotten classics and the story behind them.

Sustainability and deliciousness are my beliefs, because when combined are strong enough to make a change in what today is a broken food chain.
Also Connecting my past and my origins with what I think the future should look like in gastronomy, is what makes me the happiest. Through my dish and my cooking, I want to share a message: “Eating sustainable food, food that’s around you, following seasons and bringing traditions from the past to the present, is going to make the difference for us and for the future generations".

I want to illustrate with my dish that we can present a beautiful and flavorful plate with just a few main ingredients. With those main products at the center, I want to go for a varied and complex mouthfeel.

A plate with too many ingredients takes the attention away from your product and moreover, it does not always form a whole. With this dish I want to show that you can bring a wide variation on your plate with just a few ingredients, even without going expensive in this case.

With this dish I actually want to transfer all my passion and love to the detail. From the first step to the last arrangement of the flower. How many thoughts have gone into this dish. How to use everything from an animal. How I can best transmit my emotions to the guest. The filigree and delicacy of the dish. But in the end it's the taste that counts, that's my priority. I also want to be able to stand behind it 100 percent and I want to tell myself, that I can't do it better at the moment.