Two young Irish chefs shortlisted for S.Pellegrino young chef 2020 grand finale

Talents from Dublin restaurants One Pico and Chapter One are among the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Grand Finale

Two young chefs from Ireland are among the 135 candidates shortlisted for the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2020 Grand Finale.

There were over 2,400 applicants from all over the world who wanted to take part in the competition to find the world’s best young chef.

Two Dublin restaurants will be delighted to see their young talents on the shortlist – chefs Arlen Oretega from Dublin’s One Pico restaurant and Nicolas Fagundes from Chapter One.

Jess Murphy (pictured) from top Galway restaurant, Kai, was one of the culinary experts on the global judging panel.

Signature dish

In total, 135 young chef candidates from 12 regions have been shortlisted for the grand finale.

Each young chef’s application and signature dish was evaluated at the World’s Leading International Educational and Training Centre for Italian Cuisine, ALMA, who oversee the candidate selection.

ALMA’s selection process hinged on three key criteria: technical skills, creativity and a personal belief in the transformative power of gastronomy as a device for positive change in society.

“We have had the pleasure of collaborating with S.Pellegrino Young Chef since the very first edition, and every time we are amazed by the variety of ideas and the great passion shown by the candidates”, said Andrea Sinigaglia, general manager of ALMA.

“For this edition, we selected 135 young talents and we are excited to see how they will perform first on a local, and then on a global scale. Good luck to all of them!”

Regional challenges

From August to December 2019, the candidates of each region will compete in 12 regional challenges. Each region will have a jury composed of leading independent chefs, who will judge the candidates’ signature dishes and select the regional winners of the four awards.

By the end of December 2019, the Young Chefs from around the globe announced as official finalists of the four awards will move on to the Grand Finale to be held in June 2020.

Throughout the months, each finalist will be accompanied by mentor chefs, who will provide them with guidance on how to improve their signature dishes and support them in their preparation for the international finals.

Applications for the 2020 edition of the global competition grew by 20% compared to the past edition.

The percentage of women registered among the candidates increased to more than 10% – a number that needs to grow, but does show the first results of an effort for gender balance and inclusivity.

Featured image: Jess Murphy from Kai in Galway

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