Regional Finalists 2022-23

This dish played a very important role in my life. I took inspiration from the dish Steamed Grouper. We would have this dish every Sunday with my family. This dish is an inspiration to keep me being grounded as a Chef to have a dish so simple but so complex. To remember that food doesn't need to be complicated to taste good and food is always meant to be shared. My dish is a showcase of what I have learned with my experiences without forgetting my Culture and upbringing as a Filipino-Chinese.

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.

My favorite childhood dish is Assam Laksa. To me, the beauty of this dish is the combination of flaky fish melding together with the herbaceous, acidic, spicy, sweet umami broth with nuggets of larger sized fish meat. My version of Assam Laksa utilizes homemade traditional rempah enhanced with fish garum & fish-bone stock & laksa leaf oil with a mosaic made of Kingfish and Farce using the fish trimmings served with Ginger Flower Sorbet and Fish Skin-Yuba Tuile topped w Native Herbs and Salsa.

I want to pay tribute to our forests and also to our ancestors who lived there using ancestral cooking methods such as crust baking and banique bread. I also want to bring back memories and make you nostalgic with the smell of dead leaves when you go mushroom picking. The mushrooms will also be showcased, as will some of the trees that can be found there. I really want to transport the judges to a forest in the middle of autumn.

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.

"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 would like to show that we can eat less meat and fish and eat more vegan or vegetarian.
You can get so many nice flavours and combinations that we can all eat less animals but still get the feeling to have eaten something special

With this dish, I present my homeland on a plate and showcase my Bavarian/Franconian roots with typical components from pub cuisine. My motto is to make pub cuisine special and fresh in its simplicity. Classic Bavarian cuisine is known for its heaviness and richness. However, I want to show that it can also be dynamic, light and appealing without losing its traditional charm.

Born in Germany and raised between Mount Olympus and the Aegean, this dish moves between two worlds. It carries the salt, wild herbs and sea air of Pieria, beneath the mountain once said to feed the gods, shaped by myth, memory and the light of Northern Greece. Guided by the precision and restraint of Swabia, it reflects my belief that identity, tradition and memory can be carried forward through a more contemporary expression.

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.

‘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 cuisine celebrates the dialogue between terroir and travel. I prioritize French ingredients sourced from local producers, while imported products are used only to enhance these local treasures. Through this plant-based dish, I aim to show that vegetables can be both flavorful and deeply satisfying. Celeriac is used in its entirety, elevated by farmhouse miso and tonka bean. The satellite offers a complementary interpretation through different textures and expressions.

With my signature dish I would like to try to tell you judges my story, from my Sicilian origins and what I have learnt these past two years in Spain. Precisely in this dish I have tried to find a marriage between my homeland and Spain, taking a wild meat much used in Spain, and some Sicilian elements that I prefer, which bring back so many beautiful memories linked to my family, because in the end what I love when I cook is to remember.

My dish is inspired by the similarities between the foothills of the Chilean Andes and the north of Spain, especially Navarre. The freedom of the Chilean quail and the strength of the bull during the San Fermin festival represent the connection between these two distant lands. With local ingredients that must be used to the maximum, this dish brings me closer to home, allows me to discover its potential and motivates me to represent Chilean gastronomy in Navarra and the whole world.

From head to toe. That's what came to my mind when I decided that my dish should be mainly pork. Pork is a product that shows us that everything can be used and that nothing should be wasted. At the same time, most pork-based preparations require long cooking times and the patience that goes with it. For me, making the most of time and time are the indisputable pillars of any kitchen, and that is where this dish I am presenting has come from.

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.

This dish represents me and everything I wanted to believe in. I was born in Milan, moved to Ancona, mother Bolognese, father Milanese and Sicilian grandparents This could only lead to my personal split. This leads me to a singular deepening of every part of me, held together at the same time by feelings, passions and personal beliefs. So is my Signature Dish: the ingredients are enhanced individually but even more when combined thanks to the untied sauce.

The dish I have thought of is a reversion of the Christmas dish that is always eaten in my house and all over Venezuela, as it represents my first experiences with the palate. I decided to fuse Venezuelan and Argentinean gastronomy, due to my migration to Argentina when I was young, I also included Asian flavours and products from Mendoza, as they reflect all the experience I have had in the last years of my life. This dish mixes my origins, the history of my life and my passions.

This dish reflects my past, present and future as a chef. Lamb takes centre stage because it was the first animal I learned to break down in its entirety, teaching me to respect every ingredient and make full use of it. It represents my present through honest, unpretentious cooking. Japanese techniques and ingredients reflect the cultural influences that continue to transform me, while the envuelto symbolises roots and memory. Together, these elements express my vision of a coherent cuisine with a strong identity.

This dish is rooted in my heritage and in a tradition that forms part of my identity. The years I spent in Italy reconnected me with my childhood, pasta, the countryside and traditional butchering gatherings. Through the cappellaccio, puchero consommé and fermentation, in this case, broad bean miso, I seek to bring memory and contemporary expression together. After travelling the world, I came to understand that Argentina is often associated only with meat. I therefore want to showcase the richness of our thousands of kilometres of coastline and the potential of Patagonia through Argentine robalo, caught using artisanal methods suited to its behavior in the South Atlantic.

This dish is my tribute to traditional Huaiyang cuisine, interpreted through the culinary language I know best. As a Western chef, I combine Chinese techniques and heritage with familiar Western methods, from consommé clarification to risotto emulsification and ballotine. Rather than reinventing tradition, I aim to create a respectful dialogue between cultures, showing that curiosity and craftsmanship can bring new vitality to classic flavours.

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.

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.
 

With more than 10 years experience in different countries it took me a second to realize and change mi mindset when it comes to cooking when I landed in Sweden a year ago, all green and good use of resources. My personal goal in my career is to reduce waste as much as possible, we are so many in this planet but most of us don't do enough to minimize our negative impact in nature. I believe we can do so much more and what´s better than start with what we eat in our restaurants?

Fish and seafood is close to my heart and this is why I chose this as main components. Blue shelled mussels filter our waters and removes nitrogen and phosphorus, which prevents eutrophication and algae concentrations. Mussels doesn’t need any backing or dung. Mine are sourced from the Swedish west coast, by Janne Bark's mussel farms outside Ljungskile. I’ve also chosen to work with Swedish cod, locally and sustainably sourced.

With this dish, I wanted to bring two parts of my life together. The wood pigeon comes from memories of my childhood landscape, while the Nordic Curry is my way of looking at Thai flavours through a Finnish lens.“The Migration of the Nordic Dove” is a personal dish for me. It is about where I come from, places that have shaped me, and how memories from my hometown, the Finnish archipelago and Thailand can meet on one plate.

My goal with this dish is to demonstrate my culinary heritage, trying to showcase corn as the main ingredient. Corn is much more than a simple food in Latin America and trying to exalt it from my cuisine is the best way to enhance my background. On the other hand I want to show the great potential Australia has in terms of ingredients. So, with this dish I have decided to make one of the traditional Colombian dishes mixed it up with Australian ingredients.

Nalli Nihari is a hearty poor man's dish from Lucknow, India, wherein lamb shanks are slow cooked overnight served with roti bread. This is one of those rare dishes that traveled from the homes of commoners to the royal palaces. Taking this idea, I have presented the dish as a lamb leg wellington, showcasing the journey of the dish similar to my own. Keeping technique and flavour at forefront, I believe this is who I am. The future of cuisine is how tastefully one can embrace their heritage.

My yakitori is a unique take on the classic Japanese dish, combining traditional flavours with Italian and Australian elements and techniques, delivering a dish that is at once familiar, but unique in taste and texture.
Rather than a traditional yakitori sauce, I cured the egg yolk using colatura di alici, before using the latter to create a gel balanced with dashi that has a unique umami flavour.
My yuzukosho draws on fermented jalapeño for a complex umami flavour, lime zest, juice.

My dish celebrates the tradition and sustainability of the Vipava Valley. Jota made from Turnip Tropinka, served in aluminum dishes, carries the flavors and memories of the harvest. The humble Turnip Tropinka symbolizes simplicity and homeliness. Accompanying it is the skin sausage Krotegin, bread made from grape seed flour, and smoked grape seed oil. The dish blends traditional and modern techniques. Each bite evokes memories of family, vineyards, and values, connecting the past with the future

This dish stems from the global need to change the fine dining concept. I believe that the process of dining in a restaurant should be more educational, interestin and enjoyable for guests, with the help of other arts such as theatrical. With this dish, I will conjure up a performance about Sava Savanović, the first Serbian vampire, and country i came from, with the fact that in dish food will play the main role, where each segment of the dish will tell its own part of the story in this play.

I Choose this plate because I grew up in a small town next to the sea and the area is rich in fish. I remember that every week I saw my grandmother cook this type of fish with the most of ingredients are the same and I put my signature with my techniques to present you my childhood memories

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.

This is the dish that I first wrote down 4 years ago when I was planning to do my first ever pop up, which unfortunatelly for one reason on another I never got round to do. Now revisiting it with different techniques that I've learned along the way I'd hope to be able to present to you a well balanced and complete plate. I chose the flovours of celeriac and apple becuase I think the combination is delicious. I'd like to express how delicious vegetables can be.

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 would like to show my background in culinary arts by showcasing what I’ve learned and experienced in my time in this industry. Showcasing new American cuisine that celebrates all cultures and techniques.

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.

The pairings of squid & date and oyster tofu & bone expresses a yearning for a unified Korea. My father's family was forced from their home north of the 38th parallel to escape invading communist forces during the war. They arrived in the southern port city of Busan as strangers in their own land. This dish aims to harmonize the flavors of our ancestral home in the north of Korea with the textures and ingredients of the south in efforts to to tell our family's story and chart our migration.

My dish embodies simplicity, honesty, and refinement with three core ingredients: mackerel, dulse, and shiitake. Inspired by my parents' bakery, where simplicity was prized, I aimed to create a refined meal with minimalism at its core. Sustainability was crucial; I sourced locally from Belgium, minimizing the food supply chain and using all by-products to reduce waste. This dish reflects both my culinary ethos and dedication to sustainable practices.

This dish represents the Italian immigration in Belgium in the 20th century, for working in the coal mines. My family is from this history. The carbonnade is Belgium, the raviolis is Italy, and the vegetable charcoal the raison of this immigration. I want to cook the pigeon “des Collines”, because it’s an exceptional product but also, it reduces the carbon foothprint instead of using beef.

With this dish, I want to convey much more than just a culinary experience: I want to pass on a story of commitment to ecology and sustainable development. For me, Neirivue trout, caught in the pristine waters of the Gruyère region, embodies the tradition and quality that nature has to offer. By choosing to work with this local fish, I am committed to respecting and preserving our environment. The fresh, fragrant herbs from the Mossettes garden are at the heart of it all.