INDUSTRY FEATURE: CHEF OF THE YEAR
Four Tasmanian Chefs recently ventured to Melbourne for the Australian Professional Chef of the Year competition, with one nearly bringing home the major prize A gas burner which kept cutting out every 10 minutes, an oven which he had never used before and mystery boxes containing unknown proteins were just minor obstacles for Launceston’s Chris Wright after he nearly snared the title as best chef in the country. Country Club Tasmania’s Senior Sous Chef Wright was one of four Tasmanians who competed in the Australian Professional Chef of the Year competition in Melbourne in early March, where 32 chefs from around Australia went head-to- head for top honours. Having been bundled out in the first round in 2015, Wright not only surpassed that achievement but stormed into the final four, where he was just pipped by local Andrew Ballard. While he narrowly missed winning $6000 and a new state of the art convection oven, Wright well and truly proved his ability in the kitchen.
“I guess it’s a good opportunity to see if you’re as good as you think you might be, or where you sit against your peers,”Wright said of the experience. “Sometimes you get humbled and you don’t do very well at all. In 2015 I got through to the top 32 and that was it, that was me straight out in the first round. This time around, I have come in and done a lot better. “From a competition sense, there’s a lot more to think about. When you’re in your own kitchen at work it comes a lot more naturally, you’re in there every single day, you know where everything is, you know how your own equipment operates. “On one of my stations, I just had this oven that would not light, one of the gas burners just wanted to go out every 10 minutes. I was using these ovens that I’ve actually never, ever used before, so it took a minute to wrap your head around all these other things.” Joining Wright in flying the flag from the state at the finals was Rupert & Hound’s Senior Chef Robert Johnston, Sebastian Buechner (Head Chef at Kings Bridge Bar and Restaurant) and Simon Bold, the owner/head chef of Bold Cuisine Tasmania.
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