The young chef won with a sea urchin dish – the winner of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy 2023 award was announced

The young Portuguese chef representing the Iberian countries, Nelson Freitas, entered the competition with a dish called “Crispy red snapper, sea urchin and homemade black garlic”, which he developed together with his mentor, Filipe Carvalho. The jury of world-renowned chefs Riccardo Camanini, Hélène Darroze, Vicky Lau, Pía León and Nancy Silverton spoke highly of Freitas’s sophisticated cuisine, the selection of ingredients and the beauty of the food, as well as the powerful messages it conveys. After the winners of the previous S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy competition, Jerome Ianmark Calayag (2021), Yasuhiro Fujio (2018), Mitch Lienhard (2016) and Mark Moriarty (2015), now the way has opened for Freitas to show his talent and work even more take it to a higher level and take part in shaping the future of gastronomy.

In addition to the main prize of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy, three thematic prizes were awarded at the competition, all of which reflect S.Pellegrino’s conviction that gastronomy has the power to shape society and that food can have a positive effect on people. The Fine Dining Lovers Inspirational Food Award, voted for by Fine Dining Lovers readers, went to Ian Goh for his “Heirloom Lamb”. With his food, the young chef mostly conveyed his origin, personal creed and values. He-Sen Liu won the Acqua Panna Gastronomic Relations Award with his dish called “Shandong wagyu with homemade oyster sauce”, because his dish best embodied the balance between tradition and development, while being able to express the heritage of traditional Chinese gastronomy. And Artur Gomes , won the S.Pellegrino Social Responsibility Award awarded by the Association of Sustainable Restaurants for its celery dish called “Vale das Lobas”, as its characteristic dish conveyed a defining message of sustainability.