Chefs of the highest calibre and skill level were invited to showcase their talents and put on a great show!

For the first time since 2019, chefs from across the country have met in the ACF Culinary Challenge Arena at Fine Food Australia, this years line up included, TSBE Most Outstanding Chef, Lakanto Most Outstanding Pastry Chef, Tabasco Team Challenge, Yum Cha Challenge, Tabasco Apprentice of the Year & Nestle Golden Chef’s Hat Award.

The ACF competitions give chefs a chance to showcase their skills, promote their restaurant & compete with fellow professionals. It is an essential part of the development of young chefs, it enables them to perform in an environment that puts them against their peers, which is a great challenge.

 

Toowoomba Surat Basin Enterprise Most Outstanding Chef

On Monday 5th September, 5 talented chefs competed for the Toowoomba Surat Basin Enterprise Most Outstanding Chef. “The standard was fantastic & it is great to see our industry chefs back out in the Competition Arena.”

Leslie Chan competed in Meat, Seafood, Poultry & Tapas classes & won 2 gold & 2 silver medals

Sadatsune Sugita Competed in Meat, Seafood, Poultry & Burger classes & won 3 Bronze & 1 Silver

Trevor Jenkins Competed in Meat, Seafood, Poultry classes & won 2 silver Medals & 1 Gold Medal

Yuan-Qing He Competed in Seafood, Poultry, Paella & Plant base Vegetarian Classes & won 4 Silver Medals

Andrew Ballard competed in Meat, Seafood, Paella & Plant based vegetarian Challenges & won 1 silver Medal & 3 Gold Medals & is the TSBE Most Outstanding Chef 2022

Lakanto Pastry Comp

Santiago Rincon 1 Silver Medal 3 Merits

Tabasco Team Challenge

The teams in this challenge went head to head Wednesday & the competition was tough with all team members having been recently announced as members of the Australian National Culinary Squad.
Stephen Lunn from Tasmania & Stellio Ginis from Northern Territory  won a silver medal.
The winner of the 2022 Tabasco Team Challenge also with a silver medal was Andrew Ballard & Amber Heaton

Yum Cha Challenge

3 teams competed Thursday & the judges were very impressed with the food & presentation of the dishes
The medal results:

Cocco Yuan Bronze Medal
Sublimation Silver Medal
Phoenix Soars Kitchen Gold Medal

Tabasco National Apprentice Competition

1st Year Apprentice Chef
Victoria Archer Houghton & North Queensland Ben Gerchow  Merit
South Australia Mathew Grigg & Western Australia Thomas Kettle Bronze Medals
South Queensland Abbey Kuhnell & Tasmania Eric Trong Silver Medals
The 2022 1^st Year apprentice chef winner is South Queensland Abbey Kuhnell

2^nd Year Apprentice Chef
South Australia Kaylia Bonython Bronze Medal
NSW ACT & Regions Heather Kovacs Victoria Pippa McPherson, North Queensland Joshua Farrell, Western Australia Pearl Gille-Hille Silver Medals
The 2022 2^nd Year Apprentice Chef winner is Western Australia Pearl Gille-Hille

Culinary Students
Western Australia Siang-Yin Chen, NSW ACT & Regions Giorgio Fecci Bronze Medals
Victoria Tracey Robson-Garth, South Queensland Ian Yang, North Queensland Leidy Maldonado Ramirez, South Australia Jessica Helinda Silver Medals
The 2022 Culinary Student winner is Tracey Robson-Garth from Victoria

Final Year Apprentice Chef
Victoria Lella Subramaniam & South Australia Jessica Boda Bronze
NSW ACT & Regions Noah Cairnduff, Western Australia Ben Connell Silver Medals
The 2022 Final Year Apprentice Chef winner is Western Australia Ben Connell

Tabasco National Apprentice Competition Winner Tracey Robson-Garth from Victoria

A big congratulations to all the winners that participated this year and showcased their incredible talents! Visit Australian Culinary Federation website for more information and highlights.