Acclaimed chef Peter Gilmore will mentor participants in this year’s S.Pellegrino Young Chef competition, an annual event which aims to uncover the world’s most promising young culinary talent.
The competition is accepting applications until 31 March, with young chefs from around the world invited to submit their entries alongside their signature dish. Chefs must be no older than 30 and are required to have at least one year of experience working in a restaurant as a chef, sous chef or chef de partie.
The candidates will then be divided into 20 regions and their submissions will be evaluated by the ALMA College in Italy, a leading international education and training centre for Italian cuisine. Ten finalists from each region will then be selected in accordance with the competition’s five ‘Golden Rules’: ingredients, skill, genius, beauty and message.
The finalists will participate in live competitions held in each region from 1 May to 15 August, where the chefs will have to cook their signature dishes for a regional jury comprising independent chefs who will taste the dishes and select a winner.
Judges for the Australia Pacific region finals include Gilmore (Quay, Bennelong), Peter Doyle (est.), Jacques Reymond (L’Hotel Gitan), Andrew McConnell (Cutler & Co, Cumulus Inc, Supernormal, Luxembourg) and Adam D’Sylva (Coda, Tonka).
In August, the 20 best young chefs will be assigned a Mentor Chef – one of the members of the regional jury (Gilmore will mentor Asia Pacific finalists) – who will provide the competitors with suggestions on how their dish can be improved and help prepare them for the global finals.
On 13 October, the Young Chef finalists will meet in Milan for two days of competition in front of the international panel of judges, also known as the Seven Sages, who will ultimately crown the Young Chef for 2016. The panel comprises David Higgs, Carlo Cracco, Gaggan Anand, Elena Arzak, Mauro Colagreco, Wylie Dufresne and Roberta Sudbrack.
