Here’s the Central Europe Regional Finalists and Jury!

UPDATE: September 23:  Find out the winners from the Central Europe of the 4th edition of S.Pellegrino Young Chef!

S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2019-2020 has just gotten hotter as we announce the ten selected Regional Finalists of Central Europe competition, as well as the renowned local jury panel and local mentors!

This exciting event will see ten competitors from Central Europe countries cook against each other for a spot in the Grand Finale. The Central Europe Regional Final will be held on September 23 2019, in Hamburg.

The ten Regional Finalists (listed below) have passed the preliminary selections by ALMA in accordance with the Golden Rules. At the Regional Final in Hamburg, their respective Signature Dishes will be assessed by the local jury panel who will select the best young chef of the Region. 

In addition, three other awards will be awarded: Fine Dining Lovers Food for Thought Award, the S.Pellegrino Award for Social Responsibility, and the Acqua Panna Award for Connection in Gastronomy. These are new initiatives from this current edition of S.Pellegrino Young Chef, and have been created in order to reflect the brands belief in the transformative power of gastronomy, thereby giving a voice to different  personal beliefs. 

The Local Jury for the Central Europe Region

Among the jurors of the regional semi-finals for Central Europe, there are two well-known chefs from Poland, three from Germany and one each from Austria and Hungary, representing all the countries included in the Central Europe Region.

Cornelia Poletto (Germany)
“Really good food can only come from really good products” – this is Cornelia Poletto’s cooking motto. Her first restaurant, Poletto, received a Michelin star. After ten years since Poletto (and a total of 20 years of an award-winning career) Poletto now expresses her passion for good food in Hamburg and Shanghai. She runs her Italian restaurant, Cornelia Poletto, and cooking school, the Cucina Cornelia Poletto, in Hamburg-Eppendorf, and The Twins by Cornelia Poletto restaurant in China. 

Eszter Palágyi (Hungary)
Palagyi studied at culinary school in Budapest, before moving to Ireland to train at the Mount Falcon Country House Hotel. She is the head chef at Costes, the first Hungarian restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star in 2010, acclaimed for triggering a nationwide movement toward lighter and more imaginative takes on traditional dishes. 

Iwona Niemczewska (Poland)
Iwona Niemczewska is a former lawyer who turned her passion into a career. She is the chef-owner of a restaurant in Szczecin, specializing in creating both fine dining and slow food-type meals with the use of high-quality natural ingredients. She cut her teeth at various Michelin star restaurants (Hibiscus, Murano, Club Gascogne). Niemczewska is also a trainer and culinary judge and the winner of the Female Boss 2018 Prize, awarded by Gault & Millau Polska. 

Konstantin Filippou (Austria) 
Konstantin Filippou masters the mix of Austrian cuisine with Mediterranean influences like no other chef. The best proof of this is his namesake Viennese restaurant Konstantin Filippou, awarded the second Michelin star in 2018. His wine bistro O boufés is dedicated to his second great passion besides cooking: natural wines. The 39 year-old previously worked at the Restaurant Steirereck (two Michelin stars), Vienna and the Arzak (three Michelin stars) in San Sebastian.

Marcin Popielarz (Poland)
Marcin Popielarz is the chef patron of the Biały Królik (The White Rabbit) restaurant. He was a finalist of last year's edition of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef competition where he won over the jury with his original interpretation of a regional halibut recipe and was the only candidate from Europe to be included in the top three. He specializes in modern cuisine based around traditional Polish dishes, and is a representative of the young generation of chefs who strive to create new and original flavours from natural and regional products.

Tim Raue (Germany)
Two Michelin stars, 40th on the list of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants – Tim Raue’s figures speak for themselves. The 45-year-old top chef is known for his Asian-inspired cuisine. Intense flavours are his culinary trademark. In addition to his flagship Restaurant Tim Raue in Berlin, the top chef also works as a culinary consultant for projects throughout Europe. These include Brasserie Colette by Tim Raue in Munich, Konstanz and Berlin, SPICES by Tim Raue at the A-Rosa on Sylt, The K by Tim Raue at the Kulm Hotel and Hanami by Tim Raue Restaurants on the TUI cruise ships in the Mein Schiff fleet. 

Tristan Brandt (Germany)
Whether in Spain, China, France or Germany – Tristan Brandt is at home wherever there is a top-level kitchen. Brandt worked at the Spanish restaurant ABAC with Jordi Cruz and at the French restaurant L’Arnsbourg with Jean-Georges Klein, both three-star Michelin chefs. The 34-year-old also cooked side by side with the German Michelin three-star chefs Christian Bau, Dieter Müller and Harald Wohlfahrt. The recipe for success at his Michelin two-star restaurant OPUS V: modern cuisine with flavours from all over the world. Brandt also owns four other restaurants, one of which is le Corange (one Michelin-star).

Here is the list of the 10 Regional finalists plus each of their chosen mentor chefs who will guide them throughout the Regional Finals. 

Eleonora Baranova, Mentor: Andrei Baranov (Ukraine)
Eugen Korolev, Mentor: Achim Schwekendiek (Germany)
Jakub Borkowski, Mentor: Maciej Hippler (Poland)
Jana Stöger, Mentor: Philipp Di Mineo (Germany)
Krzysztof Konieczn, Mentor: Bartosz Szyczmak (Poland)
Levente Koppány, Mentor: András Wolf (Hungary)
Łukasz Moneta, Mentor: Jacek Grochowina (Poland)
Łukasz Daszynski, Mentor: Ernest Jagodziński (Poland)
Dimitar Boev, Mentor: Martin Zeissl (Austria)
Vitaliia Huluzade, Mentor: Yaroslav Artyukh (Ukraine)

The Finalist chosen from this Regional Final and Finalists of the three awards will be announced on www.SanPellegrinoYoungChef.com as and when they take place. 

Find out more about S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2019-2020 and via our social media channels on Facebook and Instagram, and by following #Sanpellegrino and #SPYoungChef.