Regional Finalists 2022-23

"[The essence of ingredients that are not wasted]

Born in Gwangju, I often enjoyed duck dishes with my grandmother as a child. Those meals taught me to appreciate ingredients and the importance of using them without waste.

For this main dish, I have utilized every part of the duck—from the breast and leg meat to a rich broth made from the bones. Through this dish, I hope to express my respect for the ingredient and the values that have shaped my passion for cooking."

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.

Growing up in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, my food education began with family trips to the nearby Da Pai Dang @Taman Midah where we bonded over many traditional dishes from various hawkers. My dish aims to sensibly capture the authentic flavours of my favorite street food and bring harmony to them on a plate through my own reinterpretation using my favourite ingredient that I like to cook with, Pigeon, as the star alongside local ingredients whilst practising sustainable zero waste cooking

Growing up in a multicultural household in Canada exposed me to diverse cuisines, fostering a deep appreciation for Canada's melting pot of cultures. My dish draws inspiration from my favourite childhood dishes, Cantonese braised pork and abalone, and Vietnamese Banh Mi, combined with my time spent in some of Canada's top restaurants, I crafted a dish merging Chinese, European, and Vietnamese flavours. I believe that this fusion embodies Canada's cultural richness on a plate.

With this dish, I want my diverse immigrant family background and the fact I do not identify with one food culture, to show what can be done with modern ideas and less. I want to improve myself and develop tight portion control, recipe control, “waste” utilisation, and an insane passion for food. I want to demonstrate my vision of fine dining cooking, which is to cook as local, zero waste, and as ethically as I can while still keeping deliciousness. I want to put food into bellies, not bins.

This dish is an ode to a traditional Québécois meal: the rotisserie chicken. Traditionally, the chicken is served with gravy, a side of creamy or traditional vinegary coleslaw, french fries, and a pain brioche.

A fragment of Quebec’s culinary culture, the history of the rotisserie chicken is also that of French Canadians. But it is also the story of my father, Abdelaziz, who was exposed to ceaseless systemic racism in the labour market and driven, by the ensuing precarity, to deliver the infamous “chef’s special” through long nights. I chose this dish in honour of the Québécois culture, but by choosing the silky chicken, a breed of hen whose black skin and beauty seldom make it a choice for cooking, I want to raise questions around speciesism and racism through my cooking.

I prepare this dish through a mixture of traditions bringing the Québécois recipe together with my Moroccan background to create a unique expression of this rotisserie meal. By selecting as many regional products as possible, I also give thanks to this welcoming land that is Québec and the riches it has to offer. These include some foods that were long used by the Indigenous People of this unceded Atikamekw territory (Nitaskinan) but forgotten in our modern cuisine. These complex and distinctive flavors here find their expression in the traditional Québécois dish.

Through this dish, I want to express the meeting of Mexico and Germany, two places that have shaped my journey as a chef. Through white asparagus, hoja santa, Mexican pumpkin seeds, corn and mustard, I portray a shared field where tradition, identity and nature coexist. “Dos Mundos, Un Campo” speaks of growth, cultural exchange and respect for ingredients, showing how different roots can come together to create something new without losing their essence.

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.

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.

I would like to express my technique and all the skills I have learnt. I've travelled a lot but I'm still connected to Brittany, my home region, even though I've left. I'm very attached to it. Now that I've settled in the Ardèche, my dish represents both, the saltiness of Brittany and the technique of Royans raviole. I'd like to show you that I can present something that is extremely simple at first glance, even though all the fillings in it are complex.

This dish for me represents Irish culture married with classical french techniques,as an Irish chef in France it's something that's very important to me.I break down the elements of the whiskey making process into individual steps, and that utilise those steps to inspire a key ingredient on the plate, all to accompany Irish Beef Tongue."Whiskey loosening the tongue" is an Irish phrase for when we drink whiskey it helps open conversation, I'm playing on that phrase as I braise the beef in whiskey.

As I grew up in Saint-Raphael, fish soup had an emblematic place in my family. My father, a fish lover, observed changes in the sea ecosystem: pollution, destruction of the biodiversity and diminution of the quantity of fish. We can’t keep our old habits by cooking without thinking about the consequences. I don’t want to forget the taste of Provence so I invented a new recipe that take into account these issues. More ethical ways can be taken to archive the emotional memory of taste.

My dream as a chef is nothing more than to be able to take my island to the highest level of gastronomy, being happy along the way. I have expressed it in this dish, using figs, lactose and corn, which is what the pigeon feeds on during its life, making 100% use of it and accompanying it with the three most typical plants of the island, which are fennel, rosemary and salicornia. With this dish I want to show that with a few simple ingredients and your own roots you can achieve a dish of great quality.

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.

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.

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.

This dish revolves around the use of the main part of the ingredients and those of “ scrap “ , nothing is thrown away, rather at the end of each preparation what’s left is used as a base for another recipe. This is to raise consciousness of the Chef on food waste and consequently on the human resources used for the production of raw ingredients.

I believe the future of cuisine lies not in doing more, but in better understanding what we already have. In this dish, the whole duck is celebrated, with each part transformed into a different expression. The fermented rhubarb conveys the value of time, while fire and smoke speak of memory and instinct. It is a portrait of the chef I am today and the chef I want to become: mindful, responsible and guided by a search for meaning as much as flavor.

Chiriqui's recognized for being the produce pantry of Panama, that’s why my dish's focused on the earth’s bounty with key ingredients of the region. Seren, is a corn soup endemic to the region, with sweet and delicate flavors. My grandmother use the whole corn, from the husk to the cob, because she always says that what the land produces must be used in its entirety. Ubaldina is a homage to her, her heritage, and a journey through my childhood.

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.

This dish is rooted in my Colombian heritage. The three-meat sancocho evokes Caribbean tradition, communal gatherings and flavors shared around the fire. The corn envuelto pays tribute to Indigenous ancestral heritage and to corn as a symbol of resilience and abundance. A traditional coastal ferment accompanies the rib, bringing out local flavors. The dish embodies a dialogue between the Caribbean and the Andes.

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.
 

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 dish presented by Alchemist restaurant, calling for a reduction in ocean plastic, has inspired me and made me realize that ocean pollution is not far from anyone. I live in Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, a coastal city with abundant seafood resources that is also affected by pollution. Therefore, I hope to use my dishes to raise awareness and urge people to protect the ocean.

During my time spent at Faroe Islands I create this dish with one purpose, to make something Mexican inspired but allowing myself to do it only with local resources but still following the tradition of my culture, and way of cooking.

Adapting a classic street dish like “ceviche and tostadas” to a more defined and detailed idea with technique behind and a mix of ingredients from both cultures.

I think food on these days is about adapting, connecting and evolving like all humans.

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.

Living on the Swedish west coast of course I love to work with anything from the sea next to me, something that is getting harder to do! The amount of fish in the sea is decreasing due to overfishing and the sea environment is getting destroyed due to questionable fishing methods. With my dish i like to showcase the fantastic and sustainable produce that we have in form of halibut farmed by sterling and cagecaught langoustine and how to enhance them with flavours from all around the world.

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.

This dish is called Analogy from the river. The concept is an accumulation of values and experiences I have as a chef. This dish is my expression of my ethnicity on a plate. I intend to integrate applications of tradition and how it can stay resilient despite my migration to the other side of the world. I embrace this because this is what inspires me to visualize the futures potential to sustain life’s practices more than just the gastronomy.

My passion and mindset when creating new dishes is to create something remarkable, to accept the challenge and always being out of the comfort zone. I am personally not Vegan or Vegetarian, however I believe fruits and vegetables deserve the same respect during preparation as proteins. My guiding principles in creating this dish where to, first, create a play of different temperatures, textures, and flavours and, secondly, have a clear line, structure, and complexity.

Inspired by my grandmother’s rabbit stew, this dish reflects my journey from childhood memories to contemporary fine dining. Using the whole rabbit, each preparation represents family, sustainability, nature, and my evolution as a young chef, combining emotional storytelling with modern gastronomy.

It’s an honour to present to you a dish that is deeply inspired by the culinary heritage of Malta — one that bridges tradition and innovation, land and sea, history and identity. This is my dish:Glazed Rabbit loin served with a Maltese barley koji-marinated rabbit leg, carrot purée, and a rich sauce of rabbit bones, local liquor, and prawn head bisque. On the side, a rabbit offal pie inspired by pastizzi, and a consommé that evokes the soul of the Maltese prawn.

As a young Israeli chef, I believe deeply in the principles of zero waste and seasonal cuisine. These beliefs not only guide my culinary work but also reflect my commitment to sharing and respecting the natural world. My dish, "Pumpkin, Spice & Everything Nice", is a testament to these values,  combining tradition, innovation and responsible cooking.

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.

As a Korean chef in London, this dish reflects my identity. In this diverse city, culinary boundaries dissolve, blending local UK ingredients with staples from my homeland. Signature ingredients like kimchi, Korean miso paste, Jeju bracken, and Makgeolli create a fusion that's both familiar and innovative. This dish also showcases the seafood expertise I've developed as a fish chef. From precise techniques to selected marinades, every element shows my dedication and passion for seafood cuisine.

English Rose is my ode to London and the opportunities hospitality creates. Growing up in a difficult household, cooking became my path to purpose and success. Inspired by the English rose, I transform humble butternut squash into something elegant, showing how overlooked things can flourish when given opportunity. Kept vegan to celebrate its natural flavour, with seaweed providing natural salinity, this dish reflects how hospitality can help anyone rise above difficult beginnings.

Three Shores, One Table tells the story of the cultures that shaped my identity as a chef. Born and raised in Maracay, Venezuela, with Italian heritage and professionally developed in Miami, I use lamb as a thread connecting memory, tradition, and evolution. Through three complementary preparations, the dish explores how different culinary traditions can coexist, creating new expressions while honoring their origins. It reflects who I am today and the chef I aspire to become: one who builds bridges.

I have always been inspired by the way my family in Greece and Italy embrace food, especially coastal fare. In my professional career I have learned so much more about traditional French and Japanese technique, and through this dish, I have found an all encompassing way to convey my passion for food.

“Pozole or Chawanmushi...?” reflects my journey as a chef. Through pozole, corn, and Japanese technique, I express where I come from in Mexico, the kitchens that shaped me, and the direction of my career. The dish blends memory, discipline, and creativity into one experience, honoring tradition while exploring a more personal and modern culinary identity.

I chose this dish to enhance the Italian tradition, to combine a poor dish like Tuscan fish soup and Grano Arso flour, made with fish and crop waste products, with the technique and refinement of a gastronomic restaurant, in order to have a dish that tastes like home in an elegant and refined style.

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 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.