S.Pellegrino Young Chef Latin America Regional Finals

UPDATE: Find out the winners of Latin America regional Final of S.Pellegrino Young Chef competition

The Latin America competition of S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2019-2020, the global talent search to find the world’s best young chef, will take place on September 17 and 18  2019, in Lima, Peru.

For the Latin America Region, there are fifteen Regional Finalists (see below), that have carefully selected by ALMA in accordance with the Golden Rules of the competition. 

These contestants will face off during a live cooking competition where each of their respective Signature Dishes will be assessed by the following local jury panel. 

Note that, there will be a further three awards assigned at these Regional Finals. These are: Fine Dining Lovers Food for Thought Award, the S.Pellegrino Award for Social Responsibility, and the Acqua Panna Award for Connection in Gastronomy. 

The Latin America region of the competition encompasses the key countries Peru, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia and Mexico. 

The Local Jury for Latin America Region

Pia León (Peru)
In her 10 years at Central in Lima, León collected three consecutive No.1s and one No.2 in Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants, four trophies for Best Restaurant in South America and a Highest Climber Award in 2014. In 2018, she decided to finally establish herself as a solo restaurateur with her new concept, Kjolle, and took Latin America’s Best Female Chef Award in the same year.

Harry Sasson (Colombia)
With a career spanning almost 25 years and six successful restaurants in Bogotá, Sasson has been hailed as one of the great representatives of Colombian cuisine worldwide. He developed an interest in cooking as a teenager and opened his first restaurant, H. Sasson Wok & Satay Bar, at the age of 26. His eponymous restaurant, Harry Sasson, won Best Restaurant in Colombia by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2017.

Elena Reygadas (Mexico)
Reygadas was born in Mexico, where she took her first steps into the kitchen scene. Later in London, she worked under Italian chef Giorgio Locatelli. Reygadas’ Rosetta restaurant is known to be one of the best restaurants in the capital of Mexico thanks to her imaginative cooking and has won her the award of 2014 Latin America's Best Female Chef.

Carolina Bazan (Chile)
Carolina Bazán is one of Chile’s most visible and acclaimed chefs her Santiago restaurant, Ambrosia  is a regular in the Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants since 2014. Ambrosia is known for its market-to-table experience that combines French flair with Chilean produce, clean yet homely flavours fuse together in impeccable fashion.

Jefferson Rueda (Brazil)
After years of leading French and Italian restaurants in São Paulo where he received several awards, in 2015 chef Jefferson Rueda opened his first restaurant: A Casa do Porco (“house of the pork”). Based on one only main ingredient – pork – the restaurant brings together traditional dishes from the countryside region where the chef was born with sophisticated techniques.

Here is the list of the 15 Regional finalists plus each of their chosen mentor chefs who will guide them throughout the Regional Finals. 

Gunter Juan Nobis, Mentor: Eric Germanangues (Peru)
Richard Venegas Alarcón, Mentor: Edgardo Umeres Altamirano (Peru)
Jonathan Argañaraz, Mentor: Javier Rodriguez (Argentina)
Raymundo Jeahelel Pérez Villalpando, Mentor: Mikel Alonso (Mexico)
Jhonatan David Bueno Larrazabal, Mentor: Esteban Hajime Kasuga Imamura (Ecuador)
Lorena Valenzuela Zazueta, Mentor: Joaquín Cardoso (Mexico)
Eliodoro Xicum Cobá, Mentor: Luis Aurelio Ronzón Villegas (Mexico)
Andrés Francisco Román González, Mentor: Ana Carolina Maldonado (Ecuador)
Mirna Alejandra Carrasco Barrera, Mentor: Yerko Andres Negrete Martinez (Chile)
Franklin Silva, Mentor: Giovanna Grossi (Brazil)
Sebastián Pinzón Giraldo, Mentor: Jaime David Rodriguez (Colombia)
Hugo Mora Alcaraz, Mentor: Enrique Farjeat Guzmán (Mexico)
Abraham Almazan, Mentor: Georgina León Meza (Mexico)
Cynthia Xrysw Ruelas Diaz, Mentor: Francisco Ruano (Mexico)
Alexa Maria Hernández , Mentor: Mario Castrellon (Panama)

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. 

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