Junior chefs bring it home for Queensland in national award
North Queensland junior chefs Adrian Winoto, aged 24, and Braden Honnery, aged 20, have triumphed in a respected national culinary competition to be the 2012 Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat Award National Winners.
Their achievements in culinary excellence were announced last night during an exclusive industry awards dinner at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins.
Adrian, a chef at Essence, Jupiter's Townsville and Braden from Michael's Restaurant beat eight other finalist teams from around Australia, achieving one gold and two silver medals for culinary excellence.
The nation's brightest apprentice chefs cooked their way into the grand final, held at William Angliss Institute state-of-the-art kitchens on Tuesday (11 September) for the chance to win a career changing international travel prize to Europe, worth $15,000.
During the national final cook-off Adrian and Braden had to create a three-course meal under the steely gaze of the professional judging panel. Their medal-winning menu included an entrée of seared Harvey Bay scallops, Barramundi boudin and crispy skin, creamed leek, soft boiled quail egg, broad beans and Tom Yum froth.
Competition Director from the Australian Culinary Federation, Deb Foreman commented:
"Considering the high standard of chefs from other states in this year's final, there's no doubt that Adrian and Braden have very bright culinary careers ahead. They delivered the goods on the day, producing exceptional food that truly earned them the National Winner's title".
As recipients of the 2012 Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat Award, the winning chefs will attend the 2012 Culinary Olympics in Germany next month, where they will get the chance to do work experience and be mentored by Team Australia.
The Nestlé Golden Chef's Hat Award is the longest running chef's competition in Australia and is dedicated to the development of junior and apprentice chefs.
The Nestlé Golden Chef's Hat Award is coordinated annually on behalf of Nestlé Professional by the Australian Culinary Federation with support from industry sponsors including Meat & Livestock Australia, Humpty Doo Barramundi and Robot Coupe.
