Last year’s Golden Chef of the Year was Victoria’s Archer Houghton. Photo: Supplied.
The Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award has become a benchmark in apprentice excellence in the hospitality industry.
This year marks the 60th anniversary of the award and ACT competitors will soon be stepping up to the benches for a regional cook-off to determine who will make it to the national finals at Sydney’s Fine Food Expo in September.
Canberra local Keaton McDonnell is now the executive sous chef of Doma Hotels. He was a national finalist in the competition in 2008 and 2010 and even has a family connection.
“My Dad was involved going back about 40 years ago, so there’s almost a legacy thing involved as well,” he told Region.
“I used to hit plastic gold balls off the trophy: it stayed at our house a couple of times!”
Keaton McDonnell has a family connection to the competition and will be judging this year for the first time. Photo: Louis Canberra/Instagram.
Keaton has recently received his judging certificate from the Australian Culinary Foundation and will be a first-time junior judge at this year’s competition.
He reckons he might err on the side of being too critical, but will rely on his team to help.
“I always held myself to a very high standard, even to a negative degree. But this is why there’s the junior judge system: I’ll work with a senior judge who can temper my marks and probably critique me as much as I critique the competitors,” he said.
“But I also remember moments when I was competing and nearly being in tears and if the judge hadn’t been so compassionate and talked me through it I might not have finished … I don’t think I would be the chef I am today [if I hadn’t had that experience].”
The aspiring chefs have just two and a half hours to make and present an original savoury dish and dessert.
Menus must feature Nestlé Professional ingredients, with recipes to be developed and submitted by the chefs ahead of time.
Nestlé Professional’s executive chef and commercial development chef Elke Travers, said: “For six decades, we have strived to provide an inclusive platform as a way to shine light on emerging culinary talent across Australia and New Zealand and ensure the next generation of chefs are set up for future success.
“Returning to Canberra comes with great excitement due to the famed local culinary scene.”
Judge Geoff Scott presents Canberra Chef Deb Ridley with her Best Dessert prize at the Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat Awards in 2024. Photo: Supplied.
Since 1965 the competition has helped to launch the careers of more than 8000 chefs, with a prestigious list of alumni who have worked in world class international restaurants such as Noma in Copenhagen and Fat Duck in London, as well as highly regarded venues around Australia.
The regional cook-offs feature prizes for overall winners and the newly created category of signature dish winner. This is awarded to the chef who “presents the most impressive signature dish that reflects their personal style, culture and culinary philosophy”.
The chef who receives the highest number of points in the final will win Golden Chef of the Year. The prize includes an opportunity to travel to Singapore and Thailand for a prestigious international work experience placement. Other prizes at the finals include best savoury dish, best dessert dish and most creative use of a Nestlé ingredient.
About 225 young chefs from Australia and New Zealand will compete this year.
Keaton says he can see that apprentice experiences in the industry today are far removed from when he was younger, to the benefit of everyone.
“They’re respected as people, rather than just a tool which is fantastic,” he said.
“It’s not just a generation change: the industry wants to be better. People are held accountable and there’s a lot of good people in the industry who want to use that as a catalyst to grow apprentices and young people. A happy mentality equals happy food!”
Find out more about the Nestle Golden Chef Hat awards. Canberra chefs will compete at CIT Woden on 29 July.
