For
the very first time, “Chef of the century” Eckart Witzigman – one of the most
famous four chefs in the world – accepted the invitation and came to Viet Nam
to be a judge in a national-scale culinary contest. For the very first time,
reporters from The New York Times's T Brand Studio (The United States) had come
to Viet Nam to write about The Golden Spoon contest. This is an extremely rare
event of Vietnamese culinary field, and even of the world. Once again, it isn’t
unreasonable to compare The Golden Spoon awards as “Oscar awards in Vietnamese
culinary field”.
Binh Quoi 1 resort became the champion of 4th The Golden Spoon.
After
6 competitive months of 312 chefs of 104 units from 30 provinces and cities
from the whole country with over 600 good dishes, the new champion of The
Golden Spoon contest 2016 was team Binh Quoi 1 Resort (HCMC), receiving 1
billion Vietnam dong award and a vividly potential future.
Expressive Golden
Spoon
A
menu with touching names of dishes belonging to Gia Bao 79 restaurant (Kon Tum
province) impressed not only the jury but also the audiences as called “The
bitterness of life”, “Loving kitchen”, “Dreams”, and “team work”. Those 3 chefs
were called “men under circumstances” team because all of them have been gone
through losses and many difficulties. It might be a reason that their menu was
so emotional and espressive.
“Mom and daughters team” from Nhi restaurant – Can Tho province.
Team
01 – Nhi restaurant (Can Tho province) or joking called “Mom and daughters
team” included the mother, her daughter, and her daughter in law. Judge Bui Thi
Minh Thuy - Associate Dean of Technology and Food Chemistry Nguyen Tat Thanh
University – thought it was so brave and admirable seeing 3 women chefs
together going straight to the final round. This “mom and daughters team”
participated all 4 seasons of The Golden Spoon and the later one always got
better then the previous. Moreover, “the mom” – also the lead chef – loves folk
music so much that she sweetly performed “cai luong” several times to the
audiences. The image of those 3 mother and daughters holding hands and
receiving the 2nd prize was an impressive moment for all fans of The Golden
Spoon.
In
the final round, when all candidates nervously lined up to wait for the signal,
there was a boy yelling out loud, “Daddy
come on! Daddy come on!” Lead chef Tran Huy Cuong from team 62 – Indochine
Palace (Hue city) – brightly smiled and waved back to his son. The whole stand
applauded almost at the same time, the atmosphere immediately got robust, and
the chefs felt a big relief. Next, a biker club in red and white uniform
shouted, “Nhi, come on! Nhi, come on!”
Fans of Nhi restaurant from Can Tho rocked the stand and heat up the beginning
of final contest. Were because of those special motivations, Nhi restaurant and
Indochine Palace hotel both won the 2nd prizes with one hundred million Vietnam
dongs per team?
For the very first time, “Chef of the century” Eckart Witzigman – one of the most famous four chefs in the world –came to Viet Nam to be a judge in a national-scale culinary contest.
A rare opportunity to
studying abroad for chefs who shouting fire
Runner
Vu Hoang My – guest judge and The Golden Spoon 2016 ambassador – made a
metaphor that this famous culinary contest was a stage of people who shouting
fire. “They are men who shouting fire in their own kitchen. They’re like a king
in their kingdom with unlimited creation. However, when attending in The Golden
Spoon contest, those king men suddenly have become shy and bashful as freshman
students with the anxiety of being judged and being a loser”, said runner Vu
Hoang My.
Mr.
Ly Huy Sang, Deputy General Director of Minh Long I Co., Ltd, Deputy Organizing
Committee said that the Organization have invested a lot of money, time, effort
and enthusiasm for the contest. Furthermore, they also tried their best to
invite dependable domestic and international judges and did bring “Chef of the
century” Eckart Witzigmann to the final round this year. Going along with that
very big honor, The New York Times had published news and photos about this
contest, making the very first time Vietnamese cuisine being on famous American
newspaper.
Chef Nguyen Duc Hoang from Gia Bao 79 restaurant was performing his cooking skill in the final round.
A
must-be-told story was about Gia Bao 79 team from highland Kon Tum province, a
small restaurant with capacity only 100 diners but it had passed hundreds of
higher-level teams to enter the final round of The Golden Spoon contest 2016.
That was a triumph in the journey of “studying abroad” of “men under
circumstances” team.
Another
story is about Binh Quoi 1 resort team with lead chef Le Vo Anh Duy and his
colleagues, who won the championship of The Golden Spoon contest 2016 after 3
years continuously participating in the final competitions. That was a vivid
proof of inquisitive and constant spirit of those young talented chefs. As well
as Nhi restaurant team, they had been getting better and better after each
failure and the final result did pay off their long journey of “studying
abroad”.
Up-lifting The Golden
Spoon Awards’ scale and Vietnamese cuisine in general
The
Golden Spoon contest 2016 left a deep impression behind with the appearance of
“Chef of the century” Eckart Witzigmann as one of professional judges. Another
bright star in the final days - reporters from The New York Times's T Brand Studio (The US) –
just made the existing imprint bolder. According to experts’ statements, Mr.
Eckart Witzigmann and New York Times reporters were not subjects that you can
pay them to come over. Therefore, The Golden Spoon 2016 was considered as a
rare event in culinary field of Viet Nam, and even of the world.
The New York Times's T Brand Studio reporter was sharing at the press conference of The Golden Spoon 2016 summary.
Speaking
at the final contest Award, Mr. Ngo Hoai Chung - Deputy General Director of
Vietnam National Administration of Tourism reported the impressive numbers of
international tourists to our country this year, in which he affirmed that The
Golden Spoon contest had contributed to introduce the images of the Vietnamese
and Vietnamese culture to the world, and through those activities, to appeal
more tourists.
However,
Mr. Ly Huy Sang thought it was still a pity because the number of candidates
was not close to his expectation. “There are still good chefs who pay too much
attention on winning or losing so that they’re afraid to be in the contest.
Indeed, they just lost one of rare opportunities to step up in their career, or
simply just to be more professional”, shared Mr. Sang.
It
was official announcement that The Golden Spoon 2017 would be paused so the
organization would have time to go through analyses, survey, statistical
reports to make proper adjustment for the next season. Mr. Sang also revealed
new plans and strategies to bring Vietnamese cuisine to the world and to seek
chances for The Golden Spoon champions to be in regional and international professionally
culinary contests. Those are obvious proves to show the organization’s efforts
and desire to elevate Vietnamese cuisine.
By Thu Pham