Tastes for the future
Two of Thailand’s most talented young chefs, Jim Ophorst and Ployumporn Ar-Yucharoen, are preparing for the rapidly approaching Southeast Asia Regional Final cook-off contest, part of S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018, that will be held in Singapore on October 23. They are among the 10 semi-finalists in the Southeast Asia region.
The venue for the cook-off is the Asian Culinary College of Lifelong Learning, at Nanyang Polytechnic in Singapore. The competition will be staged in the afternoon, followed by the announcement of the winner and the awards presentation on the same day. The awards ceremony venue will be Ce La Vie Singapore, on the rooftop of Marina Bay Sands Hotel.
The road to the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2018 Grand Finale is still long, but the 10 semi-finalists from each of the 21 regions worldwide are now one step closer.
From Bangkok, Jim, chef de cuisine at PRU at Trisara, has earned himself a place in the semi-final with his signature dish “Cauliflower”. Ployumporn, chef de partie at La Scala Italian Restaurant, has secured her spot as the only female chef in the Southeast Asia regional final with her signature dish “Beauty and the Beast”.
These two talented young chefs have been selected from thousands of applications submitted by young chefs from more than 90 countries. The 2018 competition received 30-per-cent more applications than the previous edition, with more young chefs than ever before eager to be in with a chance to meet culinary talents from across the globe, share ideas, come into contact with different culinary cultures, and accelerate their careers.
The other eight semi-finalists from the region are:
- Andrea De Paola, Sous Chef at Osteria Art – Singapore
- Billyanto Billy, Chef de Partie at Bulgari Hotel & Resort – Denpasar, Indonesia
- Jake Kellie, Sous Chef at Burnt Ends – Singapore
- Jie Shen Ang, Chef de Partie at Mezza9, Grand Hyatt Singapore–Orchard, Singapore
- Kim Leun Chen, Chef at Sitka Restaurant – Damansara Heights, Malaysia
- Mickael Farina, Chef at Kandolhu Island – Male, Maldives
- Priyam Chatterjee, Chef at Qla – New Delhi, India
- Seokhyun Han, Sous Chef at Meta Restaurant Singapore – Singapore
Until December, the semi-finalists of each region are competing in local challenges. Each region will have a jury composed of leading independent chefs, who will judge the semi-finalists’ signature dishes and select the best one, based on the five Golden Rules.
By the end of December 2017, the 21 Young Chefs from around the globe will be announced as the official finalists, who will move on to the Grand Finale, to be held in June 2018. Each finalist will be assigned a “Mentor Chef” (a member of their regional jury), who will provide guidance on how to improve their signature dishes and support them in their preparation for the international finals.
Exclusive content related to the project will be published regularly on www.Sanpellegrino.com and www.FineDiningLovers.com, the online magazine for food enthusiasts proudly endorsed by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.
