A star is born in Les Amis challenge

ASPIRING chef Raphael Sim is seeing stars. Or rather, he'll be seeing 10 Michelin stars as part of his prize for topping the inaugural Les Amis Culinary Challenge which took place two weeks ago.

The Culinary Institute of America (Singapore campus) student will take home $3,000 in cash and an all-expenses paid trip to the best Michelin-starred restaurants in Burgundy for beating four other finalists in a contest designed to nurture local F&B talent in Singapore. The two-part event saw contestants from various institutes including the CIA, ITE College West (ITE) and Temasek Polytechnic (TP), racing to prepare a three-course meal around ingredients including capers, plain yogurt and eggs in an under-$300 budget.

After 21/2 gruelling hours, Mr Sim won over the panel of heavyweight judges with his creative meal comprising turbot and fennel with pearl onions and caviar for the appetiser, duck in cherry sauce with carrots and beetroot for the main and a pistachio, raspberry, rose and cider creation for dessert.

"It was honestly, pretty unbelievable. To see how far I have come in this competition (when I only began my culinary journey a year ago), it is truly amazing," says Mr Sim,22. "But at the same time, I have seen how I work under pressure and where I stand in terms of my own skills and knowledge, and I know that there is that much more to learn and achieve."

The other finalists include Calvin Tan (CIA), Andy Ng and Koh Han Jie (ITE) and Lisa Tang (TP), some of whom had experience in other competitions before.

Mr Sim says his fellow participant, Calvin Tan, despite being a competitor also gave him invaluable advice for his first competition. "He selflessly taught me how to manage my time and what I could be expecting," he says.

The aim of the challenge was to test the innovation and technical skills of the participants, as well as how they would handle the pressure of cooking for the impressive judging panel that included Tetsuya Wakuda (chef-owner of Tetsuya and Waku Ghin), Singapore Chefs Association vice-president Eric Neo, Workforce Development Agency deputy director Janice Foo, quasi-professional chef Melina Yong, Singapore Tourism Board executive director John Gregory Conceicao and Les Amis Group chairman Desmond Lim.

The challenge is part of Les Amis Group's initiative to nurture the talent pool in the local F&B scene, among other ventures such as their charity dinner and auction earlier this year. The five finalists were whittled down from an original 13 competitors.

The runners-up did not leave empty-handed either - first runner-up Lisa Tang took back a $2,000 cash prize and an Omakase dinner for three at Aoiki while second runner-up Koh Han Jie received $1,000 cash and a Degustation dinner for three at Les Amis.

"The competition helps to motivate young and aspiring chefs and creates awareness for the F&B industry," says Leons Tan, honorary secretary of Singapore Chefs Association. The Les Amis Group is looking to bring this culinary challenge to an international scale in the future, but will first expand regionally to Asean countries next year.

For aspiring chefs or youth looking to get a foothold in the F&B industry, Mr Sim says, "Go for it. There is nothing to lose but everything to gain." Then adds, "Okay, I lied, I lost sleep. But that was it. The experience gained is undeniably worthy."