“Rising Chefs Challenge” Highlights Creativity of Vietnam’s New Generation of Culinary Innovators

Recently, the Rising Chefs Challenge events, a part of the event series under Flavors Vietnam 2022 presented by Vietcetera and Mastercard, have been hosted in Hanoi and HCMC. 10 teams of culinary innovators and chefs have proven their flair, creativity, imagination and culinary prowess at the challenges.

“Rising Chefs Challenge is not simply a cooking competition for young, potential chefs to compete for the highest ranking, but a one-off opportunity for them to prove their outstanding aptitude to the jury of renowned chefs and influencers, and to expand their professional network in the F&B landscape,” said Winnie Wong, Country Manager of Vietnam, Cambodia & Laos for Mastercard. “We are proud to partner with Vietcetera to help shine a light on the young future of the Vietnamese culinary space, and to support them in the first steps of their culinary career.”

Each contestant team was presented with a challenge to serve up full-course meals that are bound to delight not just the taste buds, but the whole senses of prominent guests and judges, and to create a palatable experience that would further elevate Vietnam’s F&B sector.

After a rigorous and pressure-filled 2.5 hours of preparing and cutting ingredients, cooking, and plating, the teams presented their culinary creations and the inspiration behind the dishes for the judges to taste and assess. The judges’ scores accounted for 70% of the final scores.

To get the other 30% of their scores, the teams recreated the exact same dishes and served them to guests present at the event. The “tasting menus” were then voted on through an online survey.

Teams of Head chef Trịnh Văn Bắc and Head chef Võ Hoàng Sang became the winners in Hanoi and HCMC accordingly.

The winners as well as the first and second runners up were awarded digital prepaid cards from Mastercard. In addition, winning chefs will soon be starring in a short documentary and exclusive interview produced by Vietcetera.

Võ Hoàng Sang, the winner of the Rising Chefs Challenge in HCMC, said: “The competition was a great opportunity for me to showcase my talent and what I’ve learned from the years of pursuing this career. I would also like to dedicate this win to my teachers who allowed me to become who I am today. It was because of them that I was able to learn the art of cooking.”

The challenge tested how the rising young chefs of Vietnam would show ingenuity and embrace constraints (in space and ingredients) to make a full course meal that accentuated the unique flavors of Vietnam and strengthened the country’s standing in the global culinary community.

The highlights of the Rising Chefs Challenge in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have been released on Vietcetera’s official YouTube channel.

D.B (Vietnam Business Forum)