The final round of the Hilton Australasia Food &Beverage Masters 2018 was held on 23 January at Hilton Brisbane before the winners were announced on 24 January.
The annual competition is open to Hilton employees across Australia, New Zealand and Fiji and covered four disciplines including Bar, Barista, Wine and Culinary.
Candidates participated in a series of local heats before the top candidates were selected to participate in the ultimate showdown.
37 finalists battled it out in a series of practical and theory-based challenges in front of dedicated judging panels comprising industry experts.
Judges for the Culinary Cup panel included Stokehouse executive chef Richard Ousby and chef and Electrolux ambassador Sean Connolly.
Sophie Bengco (Hilton Adelaide) was awarded the winner of the Barista Cup; Patrick Thackeray took out the Wine Cup category; Alexis Szymanski (Hilton Queenstown) secured the Bar Cup and William Lee (Hilton Sydney) took out the Culinary Cup.
Runners up included Neil Lee (Barista Cup); Jay Tuncer (Bar Cup); Ian Lien (Wine Cup) and Aleesha Forno (Culinary Cup).
The annual internal event aims to present meaningful opportunities for Hilton employees to develop and discover their talents within the food and beverage realms of wine knowledge, culinary, barista and bar.
