Regional Finalists 2022-23

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

This dish is made using a "priced" protein in our ASEAN culture. It is not something we get to enjoy much of as it was expensive as well. Many farms and villagers I have visited prior to the opening of restaurant Province have hardly enjoyed a prestiges protein as duck. However, when enjoyed it is truly for a special occasion, be it a birthday, wedding or a personal achievement for the families. This dish helps to tell the story of how the different cultures come together as one in a dish.

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, in a nutshell, represents who I am. Not only are all the main ingredients sourced from directly here in Canada, but also the techniques used I learned (and tweaked) from all the most important restaurants I have worked. It takes humble ingredients like duck and corn and elevates them to a new level of luxury. Lastly it attempts to blur the lines between savoury and sweet dishes with the use of popcorn and shortbread. Its an artful and fun representation of who I am as a chef.

This dish only uses sustainable ingredients that are locally available in the winter months. When most restaurants are relying on imported produce, local farms are still providing us with root vegetables and apples. On the rocky beaches, the oysters become plump and sweet. I hope to communicate a sense of place and a sense of time, and to show that local eating goes beyond the bounty of the summer months. In the pared-back simplicity of winter there is still beauty and flavour to be found.

The Shepherd offers his healthiest lambs, either for feasts or as a sacrificial meal every year by monotheists alike, in suit of Abraham's sacrifice to god. It is tradition to use a healthy lamb that is at least a year old. I wanted to honour this abiding tradition by encompassing the subtle yet rich flavours of the animal, complimented with locally foraged seasonal vegetables. This is an exploration of a harmonious dance of textures, temperatures, and flavours.

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.

My dish reflects my journey between Ukrainian roots and life in Germany. Through venison, forest ingredients, local seasonal products and a zero-waste approach, I express memory, adaptation and connection to nature. The flavors combine Ukrainian traditions with the wild, earthy character of German forests. This dish represents the kind of chef I want to become — one who tells personal stories through conscious and modern gastronomy.

Lamb Journey” reflects my path from Syria to Germany, shaped by memory and transformation. I reinterpret Syrian flavors inspired by my experience in a Japanese kitchen and modern techniques. I use different cuts of the animal with respect for the product, minimizing waste and giving each part a defined role through my flavors, inspired by a nose-to-tail approach. This dish carries the story of my journey through war and displacement, which reshaped my identity and made me the chef I am today.

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.

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.

I would like to express a simple message through my dish, the reduction of food waste and pollution. Through my life experiences, between Italy and France, I combined the cultures and some of the traditional dishes, to me close, in one. I talk about classic preparation of both countries revisited on a contemporary way. I use only sustainable food like mackerel (using every part) for responsible fishing and seaweed in substitution of animal proteins. Work local, think global.

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.

Through this dish, I want to reflect the ecosystem that shapes us. Madrid, a city without a sea, is built through the constant exchange of people, cultures and ideas. Inspired by this, each element of the dish interacts with the others through colour, texture and flavour, creating a living system in balance. By using the fish in its entirety and combining diverse influences, I aim to express how connection, respect and collaboration can shape a more meaningful future for gastronomy.

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.

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.

Through a reciprocal Surf & Turf, grey mullet, a humble fish, is enhanced by leche de tigre and a crunchy polenta crust, paired with the rustic intensity of cacciatora sauce. In the side dish bold carpaccio meets the savory freshness of mullet bottarga sauce. The plating setup is crafted in 3D from recycled materials. Moving from the sea to the lake, the entire concept aims to raise awareness about sea pollution through the powerful medium of cuisine at my disposal and describes my own identity.

This is a vegetarian reinterpretation of a very famous and loved dish of my territory which is beef in oil.
I believe that vegetables should be increasingly included in the menus of our restaurants to try to make people understand that vegetables can also be prepared in a tasty and particular way, and it will certainly be, in my opinion, the future of nutrition.
I would like the vegetable to become the protagonist with this dish as if it were a piece of meat.

The hen is the base of one of our emblematic typical dishes: the sancocho, a soup that is eaten at any time and on any occasion, it is cooked in firewood causing the soup to have smoky notes. It was with this idea that this dish was born, as I was curious about how to use the little parts of it, such as the neck, how the food ferments inside the gizzard and how through the use of one hundred per cent of the ingredients.

On this dish I want to express the life and customs of the first inhabitants of Paraguay. hunters, fishermen, gatherers and growers, showing that with products from the Paraguayan soil, which nature gives us by applying production techniques with adequate knowledge, they can be served with great pride.
The diet of the first inhabitants was based on cassava, corn, sweet potato, banana, vegetables and fruits.
They used hunting and fishing.

As a proud young Mexican chef, I honor my roots through local ingredients and ancestral traditions. Inspired by Oaxaca’s rich culinary heritage, my dish expresses identity, memory, and resilience. It celebrates Latin American unity by highlighting our shared history, vibrant diversity, hard work and the beauty that emerges when our cultures come together through flavor.

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.

I advocate, “to make full use of all things and sustainable ingredients."

I selected the specialty ingredient "Yanchi Tan Sheep" from Ningxia, China and local wild leek flowers. Using Chinese and Western fusion cuisine techniques to cook the lamb chops, lamb loin, lamb bones, internal organs and other parts combined with local flavours to form the flavour profile of the final dish. Puna series mineral water is used to cook the Yanchi Tan sheep, this is also the water that the sheep grew up drinking.

When making sauce and stock, I used the stock from making “lamb wrapped with lamb belly” combined with a sauce made from lamb bones. During cooking, kitchen utensils such as wide-mouth pots and pressure cooker are used to reduce the cooking time and to achieve the reduction of carbon emissions, and sustainability of ingredients. Geographical specialty product "Yanchi Tan Sheep" is selected with the intention to be the guardian of pure bloodlines, and to promote all over China and onward to the world.
 

For me, the meat of the turbot fish is tender and not fishy, and it often appears on every household's dining table. The common cooking methods include steaming, braising, pan-frying, and more. Although it is a very common fish, I want to try to create a unique experience based on my own understanding. Furthermore, it seems that the concept of "numbing and spicy" is not widely known internationally. I hope to introduce the concept and let more people understand the charm of Chinese cuisine and the unique flavors it offers

This dish represents how we can use different parts of one protein source and combine this with Estonian wine. I am also using lingonberry and moss from Estonia, it is hand picked from the forest near where i work every day.

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.

Nordic Sea is a dish that focuses on sustainable ingredients. This dish reflects my culinary journey and who I am as a chef today. Combining fishing and cooking is fantastic. Something I often did as a child. Many fish species are now threatened by overfishing and pollution. I focus on cod, blue mussels and seaweed. I use MSC-certified cod from the North Sea. Farmed blue mussels that contribute to a better sea environment and seaweed counteract the negative effects of climate change.

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 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.

“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.

I was born and raised on the Dalmatian coast. My story begins in Dubrovnik, where fishing connected me to the sea, making cuttlefish an essential part of this dish. I also incorporated my interpretation of Soparnik, a traditional Dalmatian specialty. My journey then led me to Hvar, whose aromatic herbs, especially lavender, shape its flavors. Today, inspired by Zagreb and its focus on local farmers and seasonal produce, I chose quail as the main ingredient, using every part to create a rich jus.

Through “The story of Cod” I wanted to give a modern twist to a traditional Greek recipe and products that are a part of every table in Greece. The goal was to showcase Greek gastronomic culture through a combination of tradition and modernity. Wanting to highlight the quality of Greek products, I chose to include ingredients found all over Greece. The message I wanted to convey was that complexity can occur through simple things and that we should get inspired by our roots and history.

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.

I designed this dish as a homage to my wife and the restaurant we dream of opening which will fuse our two cultures together, NZ and SA, in a fine dining setting. I wanted to pay tribute to the lineage of bakers in my family by serving this dish with a bread, 1/2 Rewena, 1/2 Mosbollejtie, baked together to become one. I chose venison as it reminds me of fond childhood memories of hunting with my family, it's filled with a farce rolled in a South African boerewors spice to further weave our story.

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.

This dish signifies my journey , it starts off with my heritage and roots - this being the base flavours of masala, Granadilla and Smokey Braai flavours ( Braai: South African cooking method ) , these flavours represent where my journey began. At the same time showcasing my beliefs of respecting the ingredients and using them with integrity and love , expressing my beliefs through food . My journey was not an easy one , but I made sure it was colourful, vibrate and bold.

This dish is a story and reflection of my life as a chef;
Typically Banchan (Korean side dish) is a variety of small dishes accompanying a main dish generally reflecting the area they come from. Each Banchan will reflect a a moment in my life through places that I have travelled as well beliefs found along the way whilst maintain my rules and ethics of clean and fair food that’s locally sourced in a sustainable way.
The Six Core Values of my Food
Fire, Clean, Delicious, Refined, Innovative, Tec

With the current climate crisis that we are faced I would use this opportunity to further educate the greater population on the roles that farmers and fishermen play in our global economy as well as teach about land management and our auricularly impact. Often this population is misrepresented by factory farming and I think my personal connection (growing up on farms and fishing boats) will give me a unique opportunity to put the farmers on the main stage versus the cook.

Since I began cooking, I have been troubled by the lack of representation of Indigenous and Latin cuisines in elevated food expressions. In this dish, I am sharing the cookery I have learned professionally, and what I have learned in the kitchen of my Abuela. Masa, the fuel of Latin American cuisine, and Poulet Farci on one plate together. I want everyone who eats this, to enjoy the complex flavors of Latin cuisine, juxtaposed with a European protein execution and plating that combines the two.

My cuisine is driven by the desire to challenge the traditional hierarchy of the plate. With this dish, the vegetable becomes the centre of the narrative — not as an alternative to protein, but as the primary expression of flavour. Through different techniques, I explore depth, texture, and emotion. The kingfish takes on a supporting role, bringing salinity and umami without dominating. Every part of the ingredient is valued to create a balanced dialogue between elements.

With this dish, I want to express the use of poor and reusable raw materials, I have used tripe which is a popular product par excellence, bitter herbs have a very low environmental impact, and roots have always been the sustenance food of the poor.

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.