Yasuhiro Fujio from Japan has been crowned S. Pellegrino Young Chef for 2018.
The finals were held in Milan, Italy, where chefs from across the globe competed in three rounds of cooking.
Fujio secured the win with his dish named Across the Sea and was mentored by chef Luca Fantin.
“I’m a little bit scared because I’m going to have to work even harder,” says Fujio. “Holding the title of S.Pellegrino Young Chef is a big responsibility. What I’m going to do from now on is turn that fear into courage.”
Pacific finalist John Riviera from Australia placed seventh in the competition while Australian-born Jake Kellie, who represented the S.E.A region, made it to the top three.
The jury consisted of Virgilio Martínez, Margarita Forés, Brett Graham, Annie Féolde, Dominique Crenn, Ana Roš and Paul Pairet who all agreed on the high standard of the competition.
“At S.Pellegrino we are driven by a strong passion for Gastronomy,” says Federico Sarzi Braga, President and CEO of Sanpellegrino Group. “That’s why some years ago we started thinking about how we could contribute to it. But we wanted something that could really make the difference.
“And now we have closed our third edition of S.Pellegrino Young Chef, we can say that it is really pursuing its purpose: supporting and developing young talent.”