LAST Saturday five local junior chefs, who were selected based on their application and presentation of a signature dish, competed in the semi-final competition of the S. Pellegrino and Aqua Panna Caribbean Jr. Chef at Cap Maison Resort and Spa.
The young chefs were Vernance Dore from The Cliff At Cap Restaurant (Jr. Chefactor Champion 2014 and gl food market People’s Choice Award winner 2016), Elvis David from Ladera Resort (an internationally trained junior chef), Emmerly Gerald from The Landings St Lucia, Brandford Edmund from Big Chef Steakhouse and Edna Butcher from The Cliff At Cap Restaurant.
Each chef presented a dish using salmon provide by Crown Foods Limited. On the grand jury were Elijah Jules Head Chef at Jade Mountain, French chef Xavier Ribot former owner of The Coal Pot and Blue Olive restaurant, OrlandoSatchell owner of Orlando’s, Robbie Skeete owner of Caribbean Pirates and Head trainer of Saint Lucia’s national team and British National Rene Cahane, Executive Chef at The Landings.
All the dishes presented were impressive and a close race but the top dish of the day was from The Cliff At Cap restaurant’s young talented female rising star, Edna Butcher. Edna is a gold medalist, “Jr Chef of the Year” title holder and hall of fame inductee from The Taste of the Caribbean 2015 competition which was held in Florida.
The 22 year old was discovered during the Jr Chefactor competition in 2014 and was immediately tapped by Cap Maison Resort and Spa and is now a vital part of their talented culinary team under the direction of Michelin trained Chef Craig Jones.
Edna Butcher will compete against four young culinary talents from Curacao, St Martin, Guadeloupe and Barbados. Each chef will present his or her signature dish to the Grand Jury for a chance to win a one-week scholarship to the Prestigious ALMA La ScolaInternazionale di CucinaItaliana valued at Euro 3,500 from S. Pellegrino and Aqua Panna plus US$1,200 for flight cost and a laptop from J.E Bergasse. All participants will receive knife sets from gl food market.
There is a people’s choice award from Digicel the telecommunications partner for the event.
The S. Pellegrino and Aqua Panna Caribbean Jr Chef finale is hosted at The Landings St Lucia under the patronage of Dame PearletteLouisy, Saint Lucia’s Governor General and is being produced by Seashell Consulting Inc. and broadcast by Gold Sponsor DBS later this year. The Landings is also the official “Accommodation Provider” for the event.