Regional Finalists 2024-25

"Humans and nature are not separate; they create value together. Across Asia, time becomes value through drying, fermentation, aging, and brewing. In Japan, UMAMI captures a part of this wisdom.

By reinterpreting Ikameshi—where sea squid meets land rice—I express this time culture in a five-hour competition. Through the cycle of sea, land, and sky, the dish honors the lives sustaining it, from squid to bees, hoping it continues.

To me, UMAMI is when nature, time, and human wisdom converge."

Many chefs talk about « sustainability » on media, and I am also concerned, especially when it's related to food waste. Food waste carries a social, environmental, and financial problem, as a cook, everyday we see how much food we waste from the kitchen.

During this competition, I would like to make my own creation for the purpose of zero waste: The whole chicken will be used entirely. I would like to express what we can do as a chef with our little strength and our social responsibility.

When I began cooking about 15 years ago, my mother was ill. I prepared a meal for her, and she shed tears for the first time. In that moment I realized food I make can bring happiness and emotion, and I decided to become a chef. I believe food has great power. Cooking can be tedious, but imagining someone enjoying my dish turns it into joy. A sincere meal comforts tired days and becomes a lasting memory.I cook each plate with heart,hoping it brings happiness and warmth,and makes the world warmer

Vegan food, through methodology and expertise, belongs on the world stage. Vegetables can be a complete substitute for any animal product. Vegan forward diets reduce factory farming practices, and when we eat meat, we should source local and ethically raised products.
Fallon recognized the harsh realities of raising cattle. She realized cultivating mushrooms was the way of the future. These are generational farmers who shifted their focus for the environment, their courage deserves recognition.

This dish is an ode to a traditional Québécois meal: the rotisserie chicken. Traditionally, the chicken is served with gravy, a side of creamy or traditional vinegary coleslaw, french fries, and a pain brioche.

A fragment of Quebec’s culinary culture, the history of the rotisserie chicken is also that of French Canadians. But it is also the story of my father, Abdelaziz, who was exposed to ceaseless systemic racism in the labour market and driven, by the ensuing precarity, to deliver the infamous “chef’s special” through long nights. I chose this dish in honour of the Québécois culture, but by choosing the silky chicken, a breed of hen whose black skin and beauty seldom make it a choice for cooking, I want to raise questions around speciesism and racism through my cooking.

I prepare this dish through a mixture of traditions bringing the Québécois recipe together with my Moroccan background to create a unique expression of this rotisserie meal. By selecting as many regional products as possible, I also give thanks to this welcoming land that is Québec and the riches it has to offer. These include some foods that were long used by the Indigenous People of this unceded Atikamekw territory (Nitaskinan) but forgotten in our modern cuisine. These complex and distinctive flavors here find their expression in the traditional Québécois dish.

Growing up in Busan and now cooking in Vancouver, I am inspired by two coastal cultures connected by the sea. Through oysters, sablefish, geoduck, and especially kim (seaweed), I express the relationship between Korean heritage and the Pacific Northwest. Seaweed is the thread that ties this dish together, reflecting both tradition and innovation. Using French and West Coast techniques, I want to tell the story of my journey between these two shores.

In this dish I want to give a stage to an ingredient that I think is underestimated (the horse) and represent it as much as possible. I take the food of the horse, the so-called soft food and complement with it parts of the animal to present the whole. I want this animal to be culinary understood from beginning to end.

This dish is entirely inspired by general and global necessity for #change. Where everyone has to give at least a minimum effort to participate in saving the planet earth. We all know that sustainability and reduced waste is the solution to this current crisis, so I created a dish to be my homage to this food revolution.
Although, I am kind of, opposed to people`s tendency to call dishes vegan burgers, vegan steak etc.
But, I gave a shot to preparing something that looks and tastes like a steak.

With my dish I wanted to share my roots, the ingredients that I took for it are using daily in my country, and they are not expensive but when you take the time and the correct way to cook them you can create something incredible and delicious. I wanted to proof that our tradition and our Gastronomie has so much to offer and now is the time to bring it in the next level without to forget the Origin of the typical food.

The inspiration comes from my experience in Tokyo and the memory of my childhood. I’d like to present a wonderful marriage between the ingredients from mountain and ocean, and I believe humble ingredients could also be the star. I love both French cuisine and Chinese cuisine and I believe all different cuisines have something in common. So I'd like to present some Chinese poaching technique, and the way we make chicken broth. It would be a French contemporary with a Chinese twist.

Rather than recreating tradition,I chose to reinterpret them through the experiences,techniques,that have shaped me as a chef.Culinary techniques create layers of flavor and texture that reflect both where I come from and I have evolved.At the heart of my cooking is respect for the product.Every ingredient has its own character.My role as a chef is understand it,treat it with care and reveal its full potential.My dish is an expression of my identity,my experiences, and the values that guid me.

I want to showcase everything I have learnt as a chef so far. I think doing a classical dish like this is unique and modern. It really shows how different styles and cuisines have evolved. This really expresses how far food has come and how far i have come as a chef.

France and my hometown, South Korea are both surrounded by the sea and is a temperate climate where produce, livestock, and seafood abound. My dish celebrates these ingredients and highlight the 4 elements that maintain the delicate balance of life: soil, sea, sky, and fungi. I believe that this philosophy will open my eyes to view humble ingredients in a different light. To keep exploring earth’s offerings by experimenting unique flavor combinations and new ingredients.

This dish is a memory of my childhood Sundays. I transformed breadcrumbs into 'pasta crumbs' to evoke the scarpetta I’d do in her Piennolo tomato and nepitella sauce. The pulled rabbit meatball, breaded in dried pasta powder, recalls how she would shred the finest meat over my pasta by hand. The dish is completed by the soffritto, the soul of Naples, and a herb-crusted rib that captures the true essence of the rabbit.

I’d like through this creation to express the ambivalence which exists in our «industry». Chef, sommelier,etc, all those occupations can give the image of a certain negativity : physically rude, mentally charged, long hours, fatigue, everyday issues… But once you go over those darks elements, then you discover a world full of color and freshness, sensitivity, solidarity, passion, creativity. With one very important commun duty : bringing happiness to people.
 

This dish was born from my desire to reinterpret one of Aragon’s iconic ingredients and bring it into the world of fine dining. Aragonese trout is at the heart of the dish, reflecting my commitment to the region and its producers. My goal is to show that true culinary luxury lies in celebrating local origins, elevating regional ingredients and giving them the recognition they deserve through technique, respect and creativity.

My favorite part of my childhood is the sea so that was my main inspira tion for this signature dish.I really want to transmite the ocean to everyone who tries the dish, especially because I'm from Viana do Castelo and we have several tradition related to the sea as getting up early and going to the beach to get seafood from the rocks.I remember the first time I tried a sea urchin, 100% sea.I want everyone to feel that flavour, that memory and get to know better Viana do Castelo by this dish.

The origin of the techniques and flavours of this dish come from the city where my surname comes from, from an emblematic family who to this day represent historical flavours and maintain their roots, and above all from the great use that this region has made for centuries of the natural resources of its geography, such as rivers and countryside, where they ate from their own vegetable garden. This is a tribute to them.

My dish begins with an anthropological reflection. We live in an age that accelerates and standardizes. Food often follows the same path, losing memory and connection to place. This dish does not look at the past with nostalgia, but interprets an almost vanished ecosystem—carp, rice fields, and farm animals—as a lens for the present and my interpretation of rural cuisine today. In a world that rushes, I choose to slow down.Time is essential to understanding a territory and the knowledge it hold.

I believe as human being that we are very sick. Imagination and language is what did separated humans from animal.
Today peoples are not conscious of who we really are and the consequence is that we create confusion, trends and bad ego is the protagonist in this planet. Today we try to fix this planet by using one word, sustainability.
who really know the significant of that word and who first went to see inside of the most scary place of this world? I think it is better to start from us...

This is a vegetarian reinterpretation of a very famous and loved dish of my territory which is beef in oil.
I believe that vegetables should be increasingly included in the menus of our restaurants to try to make people understand that vegetables can also be prepared in a tasty and particular way, and it will certainly be, in my opinion, the future of nutrition.
I would like the vegetable to become the protagonist with this dish as if it were a piece of meat.

Exotic fruits, barks, medicinal plants, and fish were always there, together with his people, the ancestral communities guardians of their cuisine, traditions, ancient techniques.
Today gastronomy is revaluing this legacy of techniques, knowledge of most big amazonian pantry that is constantly evolving.People who live in the cities feel that the Amazon is a distant topic. But that is not the case, we are closer to it because it is a source of carbon and regulator of global climate changes.

“Mackerel, plantain and coconut” refers to the day to day life of people living in humble seaside towns in Costa Rica, it highlights the value of these undervalued products and a perspective on a simpler way of living where waste is not an option.In these areas zero waste is not a trend but a viable way to feed an entire family. And instead of seeing it as something that limits it can be a source of inspiration for creating unique preparations and finding ways to enhance their flavour.

Emerging Forest was born through memories I have of my childhood with my grandparents and the teachings they gave me about the products that nature gives us and which many of these we have forgotten, as well as many gastronomic techniques. That is why I decided to use rabbit, a protein that has been forgotten in our gastronomy. That is why I decided to diversify this protein by giving it many uses and using it 100%, creating awareness for the new generation.

This dish is a conversation of humble roots & cuisine’s inclusive power, as I’m from the “wrong side of the river” in rural Shanghai & trained on the Rhône in Lyon. Vol-au-vent & Kousansi share a Chinese superior sauce brewed of Acqua Panna, topped with upcycled tuiles patterned from Song Dynasty art. I believe, in our divisive era, cuisine bridges cultures and nourishes innovation with understated depth & radical earnestness, respecting ingredients & welcoming all to drink from a shared well.

This dish explores the dialogue between Eastern and Western dairy cultures through the concept of "Oriental Dairy Coagulation." While the West relies on animal milk, Eastern cuisine transforms soybeans into soy milk, tofu, dried bean curd and soy sauce. Through live soybean processing and the use of soybean residue, I showcase this culinary heritage while highlighting sustainability, paying tribute to one of the pillars of Eastern cuisine.

Every cooking session brings back Jilin’s New Year dishes: guobaorou, braised eggplant and pork skin aspic. With Western, Japanese and French skills, I reinvent these classics.I sous-vide pork loin coated with puffed quinoa, served with umeshu sauce and prickly-pear cold broth. Eggplant comes braised or charcoal-mashed, while pork aspic simmers in bone stock seasoned with soy, chilli and garlic oil.Hometown taste inspires my fusion innovation as a chef.

I would like to just honestly share my idea for this competition. I understand that not everyone that applies will participate however it does not mean I could try and share my journey to San Pellegrino, perhaps worldwide.
This dish represents my memories of my grandmother that I wanted to give my twist on. I applied lessons that I learned throughout my culinary journey that hopefully tells the story and what I am still willing to learn.

We are a modern Spanish restaurant and this dish is my interpretation of the gamba al ajillo.

Traditionally, the prawns are often fried, but that is at the expense of the prawns. I think it's important that everything of a product is used. No unnecessary waste. In our version we use the whole shrimp.

This dish has everything I like. Crustaceans are my favorite product. Acids from the lemon and crispy from the kaitafi.

Chicken and buckwheat is one of the cheapest healthy meal options that is very common to cook among people in Estonia. However, the way it is cooked is usually very boring and not very pleasant to eat. With this dish, I tried to take these simple ingredients and create something new. I want to showcase that despite the importance of high quality ingredients, chefs are the ones who actually make the difference and create new dishes.

In New Zealand we have a large number of introduced pests like wild deer that damage our native flora and fauna. By using wild venison we can create an economy for conservation by giving a financial incentive for the pest control. Hunters can sell the meat and chefs can utilise a delicious clean natural protein in the kitchen. I want to show a way to use the whole animal by ulatising the offal & bones in an approachable way for customers. The more we sell creates more money for conservation.

Growing up in New Zealand shaped my respect for seafood and the ocean. Inspired by the cultural significance of pāua and the values of stewardship that underpin New Zealand's coastal identity, this dish celebrates lobster and abalone in their fullest expression. Through classical technique and whole-animal utilisation, from sauce Américaine made from the shells to the pāua liver xo. I want to honour both the ingredient and the place that shaped me.

As an immigrant, moving from South Korea to growing up in Ireland, one of the challenges was the cuisine. I went from having rice with lots of different sides (banchan) such as kimchi, to having a meat and two vegetables. One of my earliest food memory is going to my friends house and trying bacon and cabbage. I remember the boiled salty pork and the sautéed cabbage with mustard and some steamed potatoes with butter on top. So I wanted to do a dish that combined the two different cultures.

I see the future of gastronomy as a balance between innovation and heritage. In a world driven by speed, technology, and AI tools, I believe chefs have a responsibility to preserve the knowledge, techniques, and values that shaped our culinary identity. Through visible roots, beef broth, and slowly cooked beef shank, this dish reflects my commitment to respecting ingredients, minimizing waste, and valuing time as an essential ingredient. As a chef, I want to build a future where tradition is not

Growing up on a farm taught me to respect every ingredient and the work behind it. My dish celebrates the Krškopolje pig, Slovenia’s only indigenous pig breed, saved by four farmers. Raised on apples and corn, the pig inspired the dish’s key flavours, following the principle: “What grows together, goes together.” By minimizing waste and highlighting local biodiversity, this dish tells the story of my region while promoting a more responsible future for gastronomy.

Through “The story of Cod” I wanted to give a modern twist to a traditional Greek recipe and products that are a part of every table in Greece. The goal was to showcase Greek gastronomic culture through a combination of tradition and modernity. Wanting to highlight the quality of Greek products, I chose to include ingredients found all over Greece. The message I wanted to convey was that complexity can occur through simple things and that we should get inspired by our roots and history.

My intention was to use every piece of an often-overlooked ingredient, prepare it in a variety of ways, and build depth with fermented products. Leek hearts were steamed and marinated, more fibrous leaves were braised for pasta filling, inner leaves were made into a mousseline with leftover quail egg whites, the leek tops were made into an oil, a few leaves were fried to make leek hay, and the remaining scraps were made into an ash to color the pasta dough. Paired with miso, amazake, and shoyu

This dish is a story and reflection of my life as a chef;
Typically Banchan (Korean side dish) is a variety of small dishes accompanying a main dish generally reflecting the area they come from. Each Banchan will reflect a a moment in my life through places that I have travelled as well beliefs found along the way whilst maintain my rules and ethics of clean and fair food that’s locally sourced in a sustainable way.
The Six Core Values of my Food
Fire, Clean, Delicious, Refined, Innovative, Tec

I see the future of cooking as an act of respect for those around you. Care and community are often lost now, but amongst chefs, it will never cease. I believe my role as a chef is to cook honestly, respect the integrity of the ingredient and to share the joy of cooking with as many people as I can. This dish draws inspiration from all that have given me the gift of knowledge, nostalgia and practice. With this dish I hope to honor those gifts and create new experiences as such for others.

When I started to create this dish a lot of people told me not to do it because it contains too much work.
So this explains my stubbornness and love for the work. The sweet potato also became my personal logo.

I want to express that you can make things very complex without a million technics. sometimes a pure product has his own complexities.

My roots are in emmental. In the past this was a classical dish for special occasions like birthdays and christening. I re-invented this recipe new style incl. Eco-conscious eating. I used products as in the earlier days like Lamm, Safran, cream, dried fruit but in another combination and compilation.

“Encouragement” is the theme of my dish, where ingredients, methods and cooking processes reflect the people, who at first glance might seem to be the simplest ones, those hidden behind the scenes. As in life itself, sometimes those elements need a little push to get them on stage, making them realize that they too can reach its fullest explendore.