Winners of Central Europe Regional Final 2019

The Central Europe regional final of S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2020 has come to an end following a day of competitive cooking on 23 September in Hamburg, Germany at Karlheinz Hauser's Hotel Süllberg, with 27-year-old chef Levente Koppány from Budapest being crowned regional champion.

The sous chef from Salon Restaurant in Budapest, Hungary went up against eight other chefs from Germany, Poland, Hungary and the Ukraine supported by his mentor chef András Wolf, earning him the title of Best Young Chef in Central Europe and the chance to defend the region in the global final.

Koppány’s signature dish "Rainbow trout with chervil, forest mushrooms and wild garlic" convinced the jury who evaluated the dish against the three Golden Rules (Technical Skills, Creativity and Personal Belief).

Levente Koppány and his signature dish: "Rainbow Trout With Chervil, Forest Mushrooms And Wild Garlic"

This year for the Central Europe region, the jury panel was made up of renowned chefs Cornelia Poletto (Cornelia Poletto, Hamburg), Tim Raue (Restaurant Tim Raue, Berlin), Tristan Brandt (Opus V, Mannheim) and Konstantin Filippou (Restaurant Konstantin Filippou, Vienna), Marcin Popielarz (Biały Królik, Gdynia) and Iwona Niemczewska (Z drugiej strony lustra, Stettin).

The day of competitive cooking ended with a gala of 120 invited guests from the industry, where Koppány was announced the winner. They were joined by three former S.Pellegrino Young Chef finalists from Germany and Austria, Tobias Wussler, Matthias Walter, Falko Weiß at the gala dinner.

Members of the Jury, Marcin Popielarz, Tristan Brandt, Cornelia Poletto, Konstantin Filippou, Tim Raue and Iwona Niemczewska

In addition to the regional title, three other young chefs were also awarded in this heat, to reflect the belief and support of S.Pellegrino to the transformative power of gastronomy and its impact beyond cooking. They will join the S.Pellegrino Young Chef award winner at the Grand Finale next year with a chance of winning the global title in their category:

S.Pellegrino Award for Social Responsibility Winner: Jana Stöger

Voted by an internationally recognized voice on sustainability in food, for the dish that will represent the principle of socially responsible practices.

Jana Stöger and her signature dish: "As A Child In Tirol"

Acqua Panna Award for Connection in Gastronomy Winner: Łukasz Moneta

Voted for by mentors representing 50 countries around the world, for the dish that will be the one that reflects the perfect connection between different cultures on the plate.

Łukasz Moneta and his signature dish: "Sturgeon And Snails"

Fine Dining Lovers Food for Thought Award Winner: Krzysztof Konieczny

Voted for by the online Fine Dining Lovers community, for the young chefs that best represent their personal belief within their dish.

Krzysztof Konieczny and his signature dish: "Jerusalem Artichoke 'Fish'"

All of the winners of the additional three awards will also be invited to attend the Grand Finale, affording them another opportunity to network with some of the biggest names in gastronomy from around the globe.

Bookmark the page www.SanpellegrinoYoungChefacademy.com to find out all the winners of this exciting culinary competition as the Regional Finals of S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2019-2020 unfold around the globe.

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