Bottega Di Carna's Chef De Champion

Augustman speaks to Chef lan Tan fresh from his impressive triumph at the World Young Chef Young Waiter competition in Monaco.

IT WAS ABOUT TIME. Singapore has had a vibrant fine dining scene for a long time, but for all our Michelin-star and Bib Gourmand restaurants, we have never produced a World Young Chef winner. Until now.

The World Young Chef award — officially called World Young Chef Young Waiter — was established in 1979, and relaunched in 2019 in partnership with the UK Hospitality and the Restaurant Association. It is arguably the most prestigious industry-centric dining and hospitality award, as compared to the many awards that are determined by consumers or journalists. For that, World Young Chef Young Waiter has more clout among industry insiders.

This year’s finals, held at the famed hospitality academy Lycée Rainier III in Monaco, and saw nine Chefs, nine Waiters and four Mixologists from England, Wales, Singapore, Ireland, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, Monaco, USA and Scotland compete for the grand prize of US$15,000. Each nation sends in a team, with at least one Chef and one Waiter (mixologists are optional) and they must present a three-course meal to a panel of judges.

threecourse

And we’re proud to announce that the winning team came from Singapore. They are Chef Ian Tan of Bottega di Carna, mixologist Zana Mohlmann (Manhattan Singapore) and waiter Belle Torres (Restaurant Zén) — making history as the first-ever winners of World Young Chef Young Waiter to come from Singapore.