21 Gastronomy Talents Ready to Strive

21 Gastronomy Talents Ready to Strive

for the Title of “S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018”

The talented group of chefs under 30, coming from 21 different regions worldwide,

will compete in the Grand Finale of the global competition next May 11th-13th in Milan, Italy.

John Rivera of Restaurant Amaru to represent the Pacific region with his signature dish, “Sinigang”.

Auckland, December 12, 2017 – S.Pellegrino has unveiled its talented lineup of 21 finalists for S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018, the third edition of the distinguished global competition to find the best young chef in the world.

After being selected from thousands of applicants worldwide and coming out victorious in their local competitions, each of the 21 young chef finalists will represent their respective geographic regions in the Grand Finale round, taking place from May 11-13, 2018 in Milan, Italy.

The 21 S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 finalists:

Africa & Middle East Vusumuzi Ndlovu (The Saxon Hotel Villas and Spa – Johannesburg, South Africa)

BeNeLux Frederic Chastro (Sõma– Antwerp, Belgium)

Canada Benjamin Mauroy-Langlais (Automne – Montréal)

Central America Caribbean José Óscar Casimiro Segundo (Ajumú – Guadalajara, Mexico)

China Chanwai Poon (Aurora at Shanghai Disney Resort – Shanghai)

East Europe Marcin Popielarz (White Rabbit – Gdansk, Poland)

France Antonio Buono (Mirazur – Menton)

Germany & Austria Falko Weiss (à la Minute - Trier)

Italy Edoardo Fumagalli (La Locanda del Notaio – Pellio Intelvi, Como)

Japan Yasuhiro Fujio (La Cime – Osaka, Japan)

Latin America Elizabeth Puquio Landeo (Ambrosía – Santiago, Chile)

Mediterranean Countries Constadina Voulgari Kontesopoulou (Pelagos Sea Side – Ierapetra, Greece)

Northeast Asia Zih-Yang Chen (VG The Seafood Bar – Taipei, Taiwan)

Pacific John Rivera (Amaru – Armadale, Melbourne)

Russia & CIS Ruslan Evstigneev (Pushkin – Kazan, Russia)

Scandinavia & the Baltics Anton Husa (Upper House Dining – Gothenburg, Sweden)

Southeast Asia Jake Kellie (Burnt Ends – Singapore)

Spain & Portugal David Andrés (ABaC – Barcelona, Spain)

Switzerland Dävid Walti (Eisblume – Worb)

UK & Ireland Killian Crowley (Aniar – Galway, Ireland)

United States John Taube (The NoMad Hotel – New York)

In Australia and New Zealand’s Pacific local competition round, John Rivera came out on top of nine contenders with his Sinigang signature dish. Now, he is working hard to prepare for the global finals round with his Mentor Chef, Scott Pickett of Saint Crispin and Estelle Bistro, who will provide guidance on how to improve his signature dish leading up to the Grand Finale in Milan.

Rivera comments about experience working with Mentor Chef Scott Pickett in preparation for the finals, saying “Working with Scott is an absolute blessing. He has 28 years of experience, cooking at the elite level here in Australia and abroad, that’s longer than I've been alive! I'm picking his brain for knowledge and wisdom. Scott is really pushing me to be 100% confident with my dish, we are working together to refine each element and he's carefully guiding me in making the dish a complete reflection of who I am and my style without being authoritative”.

Local Mentor Chef, Scott Pickett of Saint Crispin and Estelle Bistro, comments on experience guiding the young chef. “Watching John’s commitment to this competition, his focus, dedication and refinement of his dish has been an absolute honour, hopefully together we can take home the ultimate prize and make Australia and the Pacific proud!”.

The S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 Grand Finale will serve as a world stage for the 21 talented young chefs, where they will put their skills to the test in front of a distinguished jury, known as the “Seven Sages”, made up of world-renowned chefs who will carefully assess each contender’s signature dish according to the four Golden Rules, and eventually crown the winner as “S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018”.

Stay tuned via www.sanpellegrino.com and media partner, FineDiningLovers.com for updates on the event and young chef stories leading up to the global finals. You can also follow the latest news via #SPYoungChef on Facebook and Instagram.

Learn more about the list of the 21 S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 finalists, their signature dishes and Mentor Chefs here.

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