S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2022-23 Grand Jury

S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2022-23, the international search for the best young chef in the world under 30, will soon be underway. 

Pía León, Riccardo Camanini, Hélène Darroze, Vicky Lau, Julien Royer, Nancy Silverton and Eneko Atxa, true champions of global gastronomy, will be the Seven Sages. This Grand Jury will be tasked with crowning the best young chef in the world, on the occasion of the Grand Finale of S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2022-23 taking place in Milan in October 2023.

Let's get to know the Seven Sages better.

Pía León

Named The World's 50 Best Female Chef 2021, Pía León is the Peruvian chef behind Kjolle restaurant. Together with her life and work partner, chef Virgilio Martínez, from Central in Lima (where she directed the kitchen for a long time), they share the same philosophy of enhancing and researching the biodiversity of their country. Along with Virgilio and his sister Malena, she is also at the helm of the Mater Iniciativa project. Also in collaboration with her husband, there is Mil restaurant in the centre of the Andes, and the casual dining Mayo bar, in Lima.

León first started out cooking by helping her mother in the catering business, before enrolling at Le Cordon Bleu cooking school in Lima, and later moving on to the prestigious brigades of Astrid y Gastón in Lima, and El Celler de Can Roca, in Girona. She met Martínez when she returned to Lima in 2009 and started working at Central restaurant, which had just opened. The human and gastronomic partnership she shares with her husband has taken Central to the top of The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

Riccardo Camanini

Originally from the province of Bergamo in Northern Italy, Riccardo Camanini is the chef of Michelin-starred Lido 84, the restaurant he opened in 2014 with his brother Giancarlo (in the dining room) in Gardone Riviera on Lake Garda. It's a gourmet oasis that quickly scooped important international awards: in 2019 it won the 50 Best One to Watch Award; in 2020 it ranked #4 in the top 100 restaurants in Europe for OAD – Opinionated About Dining; while in 2021, it entered the prestigious World's 50 Best Restaurants rankings, finishing in 15th place. In the 2023 list, it rose again to #7.

Camanini began his journey at Albereta, where he discovered a "new way of cooking" at the three-Michelin-star restaurant under the direction of Gualtiero Marchesi, beginning with ingredients and interpreting them in space and time. After two and a half years, he garnered some important experiences abroad: first at two-Michelin-starred Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons, with chef Raymond Blanc, where he mastered the basics of classic French cuisine; and then at La Grande Cascade in Paris, with chef Jean Louis Nomicos, with direct advice from Alain Ducasse.

Following 16 years as a chef at Michelin-starred Villa Fiordaliso, he embarked on his current adventure at Lido 84 with his brother. A curiosity: his 'Spaghettoni with butter and dried brewer's yeast' was exhibited at the MOMA in San Francisco.

Hélène Darroze

Originally from Mont-de-Marsan, in southwestern France, Hélène Darroze represents the fourth generation of a family of restaurateurs. She opened her first restaurant in Paris at the age of 32, and in 2015 she was named 'The World's Best Female Chef' by The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Today we find her at the helm of the three-Michelin-star restaurant Hélène Darroze at The Connaught in London, as well as at the Marsan par Hélène Darroze in Paris, which holds two Michelin stars.

Her culinary journey? After graduating in 1990, Darroze began working for Alain Ducasse, first in the offices of the Louis XV in Monaco, then in the kitchen. Returning to run the family restaurant, she retained its Michelin star before deciding to open the restaurant that bears her name in Rue d'Assas in Paris, where she won her first Michelin star in 2001, and the second in 2003. Later, in 2008, she accepted the important and decisive position at The Connaught in London, where the rewards came gradually: the first Michelin star in 2009, the second in 2011 and the third in 2021.

Vicky Lau

After graduating from New York University, Vicky Lau, queen of French-Chinese cuisine in Hong Kong, initially pursued a career in advertising as a graphic designer. Driven by her passion for the culinary arts, she enrolled in Le Cordon Bleu courses in Bangkok and garnered experience in the Cépage brigade, then a Michelin-starred restaurant in Hong Kong, under the guidance of chef Sebastien Lepinoy. In 2012 came a big leap when she opened Tate Dining Room, where she prepares French-inspired dishes with Asian influences.

Her creativity emerges in the 'edible stories' that characterise the menus she presents with great attention, including visual elements as well as playing with flavours and textures. In 2013, it was awarded a Michelin star by the Hong Kong Macau Michelin Guide. Eight years later, a second star arrived. In 2015, she was awarded the title of Asia's Best Female Chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants. In 2017, Tate Dining Room moved to a larger and more versatile location on Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan, complete with a pastry shop, the Poem Patisserie, on the ground floor. In January 2021, the chef was awarded two Michelin stars by the Michelin Hong Kong Macau Guide, making her the first female chef in Asia to receive this recognition. In the same year, she ranked 49th at the Best Chef Awards and was awarded the Visionary Women Award 2021 from Harper's Bazaar Hong Kong, Women of Power 2021 from Prestige Hong Kong and made Asia's Most Influential list from Hong Kong Tatler.