On September 30, during the Tallinn Food Fest 2022 exhibition, the Estonian Chefs' Association competition Estonian Chef of the Year and Estonian Young Chef of the Year took place.

 
photo: Lauri Laan

In 2022, the first place and the title of Chef of the Year were won by cook Helena Vallimäe, who works daily at Wicca restaurant. The second place has been awarded to German Macharashvili and the third place has been awarded to Alexey Aleksandrov. Perch was selected as the main product for the appetizer, organic chicken for the main course, and oatmeal for the dessert.

During the competition, the candidates had to impress the jury not only with their culinary skills but also with their creative thinking. We are pleased that Yevgenijs Kolikovs received the "Reaton Innovation Kitchen 2022" in this nomination.

The chef competition was judged by a six-member jury, whose main judge was Emmanuelle Wille from Estonia, while she will be joined by the 2021 winner Ivan Derizemlja, as well as Jeppe Foldager from Denmark, Tapio Laine from Finland, Marcus Hllgren from Sweden and Dominic Moreaud from France.

 
photo: Lauri Laan

On the other hand, the Estonian new chef of the year competition was also held a day earlier as part of the Tallinn food fest 2022. Yelizaveta Shalova from the Tallinn Service School won the first prize. Hedi Haugas from Tartu College of Applied Sciences took second place and Sass Kesküla from Kuressaare Vocational School took third place.

This competition is very important for us because "Reaton" has paid a lot of attention to the education of cooks and the promotion of professionalism since the first days of its existence. We are sure that by stimulating healthy competition and creating excitement; the development of Estonian culinary culture is promoted.