The 10 Pacific Region Finalists for the S Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition Have Been Announced

Ten finalists, all under 30, have been announced for the Pacific Region chapter of the S Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition for 2024–2025. One chef will be chosen to represent the region at the grand final in Milan next year, competing to be named the best young chef in the world against 14 other regional winners in front of a grand jury. The competition offers participants the chance to connect with other young chefs, find mentors and interact with world-renowned established chefs.

The local contingent will be judged by a jury of well-known chefs: this year’s judges are Jake Kellie ( Arkhe , Adelaide); Josh Niland ( Saint Peter , Sydney); Rosheen Kaul (ex- Etta , Melbourne); Brent Savage (Sydney’s Bentley Group); and Brigitte Hafner ( Tedesca Osteria , Red Hill, Victoria).

Each of the chefs has created a signature dish reflecting their experience, creativity and journey in the culinary world. Singapore-born, Melbourne-raised chef Kimberley Tang fuses Singaporean, Teo Chew, Hokkien and Melburnian influences into a series of dishes called My Mother’s Zi Char, and reflects stints at Dinner by Heston , Nobu , Society and Chef’s Table. It’s a multi-dish creation, with grilled red mullet with pumpkin sauce, sago, finger limes and chive oil as its centrepiece.

Colombian-born Juan Taborda, who has experience at Melbourne’s Maha and New York’s Eleven Madison Park, is now junior sous-chef at Sydney’s Quay. His dish, Maizero, is a low-waste corn-filled corn tamale paying homage to a South American staple: corn.

Dylan Smith, who currently runs off-site events for the Scott Pickett Group, is passionate about farm-to-plate dining thanks to a childhood spent on his grandparents’ Queensland farm and a stint at Copenhagen’s Relae. His dish, Natives of Saddle Lamb, uses various cuts of lamb, each prepared in a distinctive way, and served with local ingredients including nettle leaves, macadamias, beetroots, damper and finger limes.

New South Wales Central Coast-based James Soltau makes use of foraged ingredients in his cooking, most recently as head chef at Wildflower, a restaurant in the Central Coast Leagues Club. His dish also pays tribute to his grandfather’s farm, using locally grown and foraged ingredients. It combines duck with pickled and fresh plums, a spiced plum and duck jus, black truffle, brioche and a duck liver custard with chicken aspic.

South Korean-born, Ireland-raised Kyongho Choi, who is currently on the pans at Omnia in Melbourne, has worked at Michelin-starred restaurants in San Francisco and Dublin. His signature dish riffs on both his Korean and Irish backgrounds – it’s a spin on the classic Irish bacon and cabbage, with pork stuffed with black pudding, potato, apple, plum, gochujang, soondae and cabbage, with a kimchi soda bread.

New Zealander Joshua Ross worked and staged in top New Zealand restaurants before taking up the head chef role at Bellamy’s, a fine diner in New Zealand's parliament. His signature leans on using the entirety of a wild deer, an introduced pest in New Zealand: venison is served with artichoke and smoked deer milk puree, offal crepinettes, endive leaves, grilled quince and beetroot jus.

Santiago Sansone was born and raised in Argentina, has worked in top kitchens in San Francisco and his native Buenos Aires and now works at the Four Seasons Sydney as chef de partie. His colourful dish, Sweet Memories, incorporates sweetbreads – molleja as it’s called in Argentina – and, like Ross, he aims to promote using every edible element of the animal.

Also from the Four Seasons Sydney is Siriporn Boonsin, who works on the banquets team. She’s also worked in hotels in Bangkok and California, and the dish she will present is named Assiette from the Sea.

The home cooking of his childhood has inspired Vinayak Shah’s dish, which melds the flavours of his Indian background – including fenugreek leaves and leeks – with hapuka caught in the seas surrounding New Zealand, where he moved at 18.

Burkina Faso-born chef Kogwoussougo Ouedraogo travelled to France in her teens to pursue cooking, and has since worked in Guadeloupe, Ireland, Spain, Hong Kong and Melbourne, where she now resides. Her dish features a culinary technique from every chef she has worked with, alongside ingredients from Burkina Faso.

The winner of the Pacific region competition will be announced in Melbourne on October 9.

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