Radiant winner

Technique, creativity and personal credo - Emilia Montz implemented the three “golden rules” of the jury perfectly and was able to shine with her signature dish “Russian Ballet” in first place at the regional preliminary round of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Awards. Jury member The Duc Ngo praised: “Her dish is a very beautiful way of bringing culinary art to the plate. The whole thing with technical perfection and feeling, just like in ballet.” For the chef de partie from the creative Russian crossover cuisine restaurant “Troyka” herself, it is also “the ideal combination of my passion for ballet and my culinary signature”.

Special prizes for sustainability, audience award and combining culinary traditions

However, the decision was anything but easy for the jury, with the ten up-and-coming chefs going head-to-head in a culinary race. Montz ultimately took the title, with the special prizes going to:

• S.Pellegrino for Social Responsibility Award: this award is presented by the “Food Made Good” organization, which is dedicated to sustainability in gastronomy worldwide. The dish “Heart of the Mountain” by Patrick Ködel (“Hallo Emil” in Stuttgart) best represented the claim to cook sustainably and responsibly.
• Fine Dining Lovers Food for Thought Award: Marc-Dominik Stern (“The Charles Hotel Munich” in Munich) was honored by the “Fine Dining Lovers” community. The readers of the online magazine present this award to the talented chef whose culinary philosophy is best reflected in the signature dish.
• Acqua Panna for Connection in Gastronomy Award: This award recognizes the ability to prepare a signature dish that combines tradition and modernity and builds a bridge between different cultures. It is chosen by the chefs' mentors. Their choice fell on the dish “Colorful Waldviertel” by Yvonne Rauscher (“Landhaus Bacher” in Mautern an der Donau).

Cooking school as a competition venue

The preliminary round took place in Cologne, where a cooking school in the Ehrenfeld district was transformed into a location suitable for the competition. Among other things, an entire room was transformed into a small wholesale market. “We provided over 400 ingredients, some of them very unusual, for the ten dishes”, explains Anna Liebethal, Senior Brand Manager S.Pellegrino & Acqua Panna. No wonder: because the cooking had to be at star level - as judged by renowned chefs. The renowned jury for the preliminary round of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy award included:

• Heinz Reitbauer (“Steirereck”, Vienna)
• Rosina Ostler (“Restaurant Alois - Dallmayr Fine Dining”, Munich)
• The Duc Ngo (“893 Ryōtei”, Berlin and others)
• Julia Komp (“Sahila”, Cologne)
• Daniel Gottschlich (“Ox & Klee”, Cologne)

In the evening, for the announcement of the winner, the event moved to “Ox & Klee”, the restaurant of juror Daniel Gottschlich. There, the ten participants were celebrated at a kitchen party.