Regional Finalists 2022-23

Malaysia, Taiwan, and Singapore are the places influenced me the most. Through this dish, starting from the broth, it's like starting a new journey into the unknown, mist yet exciting; followed by the snack, when you walk into the wood somehow can see delicate food prepared by the nature; and last is the main, you enter the heart of the wood and much more things to explore, which just like our culinary journey. I want to set new trend that how different backgrounds can create interesting story.

My mother’s dawn-steamed rice and her traditional pantry shaped my childhood culinary pride. Growing up as a chef, I found her humble kitchen held a profound system of knowledge: the soul of fish sauce, rice culture, and flavor balance. This lobster, sticky rice, and phở dish contemporary retells those memories. It’s about deeply understanding our core values and wrapping the Vietnamese soul in a modern structure. I dream of our cuisine stepping out globally with an irreplaceable identity.

I deconstructed Korean traditional dish 'Sinsello'.I tried to improve the limitations of traditional cooking methods by introducing modern techniques based on my experience working in different countries. I made this dish by composing it with the three elements of Korean traditional meal soup, rice, and banchan, side dishes. In addition, in consideration of sustainability, all ingredients are used for cooking so that no ingredients are thrown away after cooking is finished, ‘0 waste cooking’.

I want to show that fine dining food can have zero waste when done correctly, getting creative on how to utilize trim in order to reduce food waste will make fine dining more sustainable. this dish when done correctly in a restaurant setting will have zero waste associated with it. it uses techniques that I have developed alongside some of my mentors. This dish is very important to me as it shows my mindest towards cooking on one plate. No waste, local, healthy, delicious.

This dish reflects my life and experiences—a blend of French culinary skill and comforting home flavors from Canada as a multicultural nation. Montreal's Chinatown was my sanctuary, sparking my fascination with diverse culinary traditions, inspiring me still today. Cooking, for me, is love and passion, rooted in respect—using every part of ingredients, minimizing waste, letting flavors shine. Join my journey as a French-Canadian chef celebrating diverse influences shaping my culinary identity.

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.

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.

My dish should represent the northern Waldviertel and the history of my family. The idea for my signature dish was born in my head from childhood flavours. But I also want to use it to show sustainability and make a statement that you can still cook an interesting style of cuisine using classic techniques.

I wish to inspire people to reconnect with their neighborhood. Regionality is not just practiced, it is lived! We need to encourage kids to engage in gastronomy. Let's show the next generation the joy of serving guests dishes made from locally-sourced ingredients, fostering connections with friends in the local farming community. Hopefully, kids today, through my cooking, will discover that, as my grandma always says: 'Where there's a will, there's a way.' Let's create paths worth taking.

I have always been fascinated by what grows around me and the techniques different cultures have developed to bring out the best of their terroir. This dish celebrates that curiosity through trout from lac léman and carrots and herbs from our farm. Drawing on techniques learned through my travels across Asia and Europe, and from my grandmother, I use every part of the produce—from peels to carcasses—to reduce waste and create a cuisine that is sustainable, delicate, and harmonious.

I’d like through this creation to express the ambivalence which exists in our «industry». Chef, sommelier,etc, all those occupations can give the image of a certain negativity : physically rude, mentally charged, long hours, fatigue, everyday issues… But once you go over those darks elements, then you discover a world full of color and freshness, sensitivity, solidarity, passion, creativity. With one very important commun duty : bringing happiness to people.
 

This dish gives nobility to the sturgeon by placing it at the centre of the plate, with the caviar playing a secondary role as an accompaniment. I love the idea of pairing the fish with the highly prized egg it produces. Born to two young parents, I grew up between Sologne and Provence; by combining the flavours of Douglass, pine kernels and artichokes, as well as remembering the tian my grandmother used to prepare for me and my love of freshwater fish, I'm showing my origins.

The dish tries to capture the work philosophy that characterises me in its maximum expression, for this I base it on a traditional stew from Valencia called "All i pebre", always the cuisine of my territory by flag, but drinking from other cultures to enrich the elaborations, in this case with Mexican influence with the mole, the nixtamalisation as an ancestral technique applied to the current cuisine. In short, this dish conveys tradition from a modern perspective of respect for our roots.

The origin of the techniques and flavours of this dish come from the city where my surname comes from, from an emblematic family who to this day represent historical flavours and maintain their roots, and above all from the great use that this region has made for centuries of the natural resources of its geography, such as rivers and countryside, where they ate from their own vegetable garden. This is a tribute to them.

With this proposal, what I am trying to do is make the most of a product of such quality as hake. Hake is one of the most consumed foods in Spain by the most humble families. In this dish I use all parts of the hake to avoid throwing waste in the trash. The garnishes are also made with cheap products simulating how poor families would make them. The dish has three preparations using a different part of the hake in each of them.

Growing up in the province of Bergamo with my grandmothers, who were born and raised during the war, they always had the philosophy ‘ the butcher throws nothing away of an animal’. A thought that made me reflect on how many different ways there are to make full use of all that a raw material can offer us. This is why I chose to use a rabbit in its entirety and develop the dish starting with the use of a few kilos of carrots, thus managing to have no waste.

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.

I rapresented violence against woman. Living or cohabiting with someone who exhibits aggressive attitudes and feeling without a way of escape.
Also walk alone, sometimes, could be scare.
During COVID-19 requests for help incresed by 119% and the cage tht I rapresented makes me think of them. Trapped at home.

Through this dish, I want to tell the story of Panama as a meeting point of cultures. Inspired by my Chinese heritage, Afro-Caribbean influences, and local traditions, it celebrates the communities that shaped our identity. By making the most of every ingredient and highlighting the value of humble products, I aim to showcase how creativity and respect for raw materials can transform simple elements into something meaningful. Through the use of overlooked ingredients, I hope to convey a message.

Goat is a typical product of my region Mendoza. I have eaten it since my childhood, my grandfather taught me how to cook it on a flame but I never experimented with other cooking methods, so it became a personal search of how to transform it and find other textures, flavours and combinations that complemented it. I want to show that with the same product I can achieve different preparations by working it 100% without wasting anything from head to toe, mixing migratory cultures.

For this contest I wanted to create a dish that had the essence of my country. For this, use several products that are not commonly used in Colombian haute cuisine but giving them a transformation, respecting their essence that reaches all palates, extolling their properties. All these foods have a great importance in the daily food of Colombians and by including them on my plate they can show the world the diversity that characterizes us as a country.

I once read an interview stating that food waste is a fatal flaw in fine dining restaurants. Many ingredients, from purchase to plating, end up being only 50%-70% of their original quantity, with an average of 30% of ingredients being wasted. However, sustainable development is a social responsibility and obligation that we, as the new generation of young chefs, must undertake. At this moment, I utilize various cooking techniques to fully utilize ingredients and minimize waste, aiming to convey my thoughts on sustainable development as a young chef.

I have been training in the culinary arts since I was 14 and that set me on my career path. It allowed me to gain a thorough understanding of Western gastronomy and culinary techniques. But I have never veered too far from what is familiar to me; Chinese cuisine is etched in my memory and I am mesmerized by it. Coupled with foreign elements, it has sparked whimsical surprises in my style of Chinese cuisine.
 

I believe that the whole point of journeying far away is to return home with a deeper understanding of flavors. Like a pigeon travelling across mountains and seas, I left Anhui to pursue my culinary dream. No matter how far I wander, the warmth of family and the flavors of my hometown remain in my heart. Though I chase light thousands of miles away, my heart always finds its way home.

The Silent Flock – A Life Through Lamb explores the life cycle of a sheep as a reflection of Ireland’s journey across generations. Lamb, hogget and mutton represent youth, growth and maturity, mirroring my grandfather’s generation of necessity, my father’s generation of change, and my own generation of opportunity. Rooted in whole-animal cookery and the Irish landscape, it honors the past while looking confidently toward the future of Irish cuisine.

My name is Astrid Snövit Wahlen, I am 24 years old and I am passionate about nature, the earth and cooking. I believe that we only borrow nature's resources and therefore must use them with respect. That is why I chose to work with carrots and wild duck – raw materials with a low climate impact. A sustainable future begins in the soil, where healthy ecosystems create the conditions for food production. Through conscious choices, we can preserve Sweden's nature

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.

The main purpose of this dish is to change the misconception that exists in some beef offal's, in this case "sweetbread", considered an exquisite treat in my country, Argentina, however not so pleasant in other cultures. Through childhood flavors I aim to encourage people to experience something different by creating a beautiful dish with colors that pique curiosity to try. And encourage sustainability by utilizing part of the cow that are often considered waste as sweetbread and tendons.

My dish is based on my culinary journey: I am Indian by birth and I moved to New Zealand when I was 18 and I've been working in Tamaki Makaurau for the last 10 years, surrounded by the ocean. I want to showcase the best of seafood found in the country and also merge it with my Indian heritage in a subtle way by using dried fenugreek leaves with some of the main ingredients found in a lot of Indian food.

When I arrived in Australia, native ingredients and coastal produce changed the way I saw food. Growing up in a coastal village, my family taught me to "keep the root" harvest with respect and leave enough for nature to continue its cycle. Through coral trout, whole fish utilisation, and coastal ingredients, I reconnect with these memories while expressing my Asian background through an Australian landscape. This dish reflects the chef I hope to become: one who cooks with respect and connection.

It has always been impotant to me that we use every part of our ingredients to fight against food waste, that is why is use whole ducks.It significant to me that we also use the techniques of our ancestors for example preserving,foraging.I dedicate the dish to my family and my childhood.I grew up in the countryside where we kept animals. Duck was also an important part of the family meals.The treasures if the forest, the garden the wild plants were always part of our life.

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.

The inspiration behind this dish stems from deeply rooted memories of my childhood visits to my grandmother's home. At the heart of her cooking was her rooster dish, a testament to resourcefulness and culinary creativity born out of necessity. In the old times, when resources were scarce, my grandmother relied on every part of the rooster to create the family meals. Even though the dish is now adapted to fine dining techniques, I am transported back to those moments, the essence of home.

A Chef is someone able to forge a connection between times and who can intertwine the strings of time to create something beautiful. Food is central to our sense of identity. The way any given human group eats helps it assert its diversity, hierarchy and organisation, but also, at the same time, both its oneness and the otherness of whoever eats differently. I wanted to create a dish that reflects my background who couldn't think i would love pigeon.

This dish tells the story of my journey throughout my career, bringing together the flavours, techniques, and memories I’ve collected along the way. Inspired heavily by Barbados, the bold seasonings, vibrant colours, and lively energy on the plate reflect the warmth and culture that have influenced me most. Every element represents a place, person, or experience that has shaped my identity as a chef and my connection to food.

This dish reflects my childhood on my grandparents’ farm, where food was always seasonal and nothing was wasted. Sour cherries remind me of jam and chutney we made during cherry season, while cumin recalls the warm soups my grandmother cooked in colder months. Using the whole pigeon honors their philosophy of respect for ingredients, turning memories, tradition, and sustainability into one plate.

Food conscience and sustainability are more prevalent in our lives than ever before.
It is time to take action and look for more sustainable solutions.
My dish is a representation of sustainable ingredients, rich in nutrients, with a low water and carbon footprint, that may improve ocean water quality, rebuild coastal ecosystems, alleviate hunger and contribute to environmental revival at a low cost through ethical farming on a global scale.

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.

This dish is a walk through the garden — every part of the bird used, every element drawn from the land around it. It is rooted in years spent at The Chef's Garden in Ohio, where I learned that nothing is waste and everything has flavor. The whole bird mirrors the whole plant: nothing discarded, everything transformed. I want the person eating this dish to feel the same wonder I felt walking those rows — that food, at its best, is an act of attention.

Le Goût de la Mémoire invites diners to discover my story and revisit the memories that mark the course of a lifetime. This dish evokes my childhood: mornings spent hunting wild duck with my father and the flavors passed down by my parents. The Hachis Parmentier is hollowed out like the volcanoes of our childhood; the duck, aged with koji and then smoked, pays tribute to duck à l’orange; while the open offal pie celebrates a responsible approach to cooking, rooted in memory and the passing down of knowledge.

I created these dishes by reminiscing about the morning's picking. The first thing we did in the restaurant before setting off to pick mushrooms was to drink our coffee. I made my first plate with mushrooms, coffee and chocolate, with a few crisps to remind us of our foraging trip. My second plate is to take you with me on a foraging trip, to walk in the forest and find all the things you can find in the woods.

“Encouragement” is the theme of my dish, where ingredients, methods and cooking processes reflect the people, who at first glance might seem to be the simplest ones, those hidden behind the scenes. As in life itself, sometimes those elements need a little push to get them on stage, making them realize that they too can reach its fullest explendore.