CAPE TOWN, OCTOBER 2019 – S.Pellegrino Young Chef is an international culinary competition that nurtures the future of gastronomy, by nesting, discovering and promoting the next generation of culinary talent.

From August to December 2019, talented young chefs from around the world will face the first round of competition in their regions, to earn a place at the Grand Finale in Milan, held on the 8-9th May 2020.

For the Africa and Middle East region, ten semi-finalists will be competing at South African Chefs Academy on 14 October 2019, with attendance from some of the biggest names in the world of gastronomy. Seven out of the ten young chefs are South African, with one each from Turkey, United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.

The Regional semi-finals are the first opportunity for the young chefs to connect with stakeholders that they may otherwise struggle to meet. The creation of these networks will help young talents to get an insight into what it takes to forge a career at the cutting edge of gastronomy.

By the end of 2019 all of the Regional semi-finals will have taken place and the 12 Young Chefs from around the globe will be revealed as the official S.Pellegrino 2020 Young Chef finalists. They will each be invited to compete at the Grand Finale in Milan on the 8th-9th May 2020. To ensure the Young Chef’s continue to be supported throughout the process, each finalist will be assigned a prestigious ‘Mentor Chef’, who will work with them on their signature dish, providing support and guidance throughout their preparation for the finale.

In addition to the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2020 title, there are now three other awards, each recognizing different personal beliefs of the participants: the Acqua Panna Award for Connection in Gastronomy is assigned by the Mentors, the S.Pellegrino Award for Social Responsibility is voted for by Food Made Good, and finally the Food for Thought Award is voted by the online community of Fine Dining Lovers. All the Regional Winners of these awards will  fly to Milan in 2020, to experience and compete in the incredible S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2020 Grand Finale.

To stay updated with announcements and news ahead of the Grand Finale in May 2020, you can visit the websites https://www.sanpellegrino.com/intl/en and https://www.finedininglovers.com/. Connect on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/SanPellegrino, https://www.facebook.com/FineDiningLovers, Twitter https://twitter.com/sanpellegrino, https://twitter.com/finedininglover and Instagram https://www.instagram.com/sanpellegrino_official/, https://www.instagram.com/finedininglovers/.S.Pellegrino Young Chef nurtures the future of gastronomy, by nesting, discovering and promoting the next generation of culinary talent. S.Pellegrino Young Chef facilitates young talent from around the globe to have access to the gastronomic community, and enables and encourages them to demonstrate their personal belief in the transformative power of gastronomy through their technical skills and creativity. The winner of S.Pellegrino Young Chef will become a positive force for change.  

ENDS