Peakhurst’s Matt Wills has been crowned the national champion of Australia’s longest running and most credible culinary competition for young chefs.
Matt and teammate Billy Fox, turned up the heat against Australia’s top culinary talent at the national finals of the 2018 Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award at Fine Food Australia, taking home gold medals for their main and dessert courses and silver for their entree course.
The golden pair particularly impressed the judging panel with a standout main course of duo of Australian beef with mushroom crusted porterhouse and Korean BBQ oxtail with orange and maple carrot, pea tart and scented sauce.
Matt and Billy the new National champions have secured themselves a once in a lifetime culinary trip to Italy.
No stranger to the culinary competition arena, Matt who works at Merivale’s The Ivy is thrilled with the outcome.
“I’m feeling great, this is so awesome and I couldn’t be prouder of my teammate, Billy. What an incredible achievement, we worked hard for a very long time for this. Practice makes perfect and we are proud to be bringing home the big hat trophy.”Matt said
Executive Chef at Nestlé Professional, Mark Clayton says, “This competition consistently attracts some of the best and brightest young chefs in the culinary industry. I’m continually impressed with the passion and creativity they bring to the table. Billy and Matt worked hard for this and it showed. Their performance was outstanding.”
Matt Wills and Billy Fox both studied Certificate III in Commercial Cookery at TAFE NSW Ryde and TAFE NSW Wollongong.
TAFE NSW Cookery Team Leader, Sharon Altman, said each and every competitor performed to an exceptional level.
“ Matt Wills and Billy Fox really put their culinary skills on the table. I’m delighted that Billy and Matt will now travel to Italy to learn from some of the best chefs in the business”
“This really is a true example of the high quality of training TAFE NSW provides to students,” Ms Altman said.
The Nestlé Golden Chefs Hat award offers the next generation of young chef talent a platform to connect with their peers, learn new skills, create amazing dishes, and experience new opportunities to advance their culinary careers.
