WORLDCHEFS – INSIDE WORLDCHEFS
A Moment of Reflection
with Worldchefs Leadership We caught up with Worldchefs Continental Directors to talk past, present, and future. Who is one chef or association in your region that inspired you in the past year, and why? Andy Cuthbert: President of Ghana Chefs Association, President Isaac Sackey and his entire board for what they do for their chefs but also for the West Africa region. Chef Isaac has been instrumental in the growth of the region, association assisting Nigeria and Liberia and bringing them together for the Westfest Cooking Festival and Competition. Mauricio Armendaris: The AEGA Association of Gastronomic Schools of the Americas, they undertook the SAFE COOKING program to support thousands of establishments in our region. Rick Stephen: This is a tough one as they are all inspiring as different groups do different things to promote our profession and to support the Young Chefs. Penang is always creating and coming up with something new in their dynamic team to support of industry. Jakarta goes all out for the Young Chefs in training and not just for competitions. Taiwan extended all their resources so the Young Chefs have equal opportunities to compete. Maldives, a group of many islands, are building a virtual Salon Culinaire so chefs can compete without leaving the island due to Covid or distancing into the future. Karachi is pushing the skills through training for chefs and just completed their first competition with a lot of exposure to put our profession at the forefront. India has been hosting a number of seminars online. So, in a nutshell, they all are doing something inspiring! Neil Thomson: It is difficult to single out any one chef or association in Europe North, however the three national associations of the Baltic countries have shown just how well they have worked together by producing a Baltic Chefs Cookery Book and have been very well led by their respective Presidents: Svetlana Riskova of Lativia,Taigo Lepik of Estonia, and Jaroslav Orsevski of Lithuania. Alain Hostert: If I must decide now for one chef or one association that inspires me, I must lie, or I could not take a decision. In the last years, I found inspiration by a lot of chefs I meet, and the same for the associations all over the world. It impresses me to see the way they work and the way they are organizing their associations. Even after a pandemic as we have had in the last years. On the Board and in Committees, we have some ambitious youngsters and some “old hands” with a good deal of experience, and I love 16
WORLDCHEFS MAGAZINE
Andy Cuthbert Continental Director Africa & Middle East
the work of Andy Cuthbert and Rick Stephens. I am so impressed by the way they manage their work inside the association and the way they handle the daily business. Unique personalities as one of a hundred thousand. Mike Pansi, the youngster president of Austria, arrived to transfer traditions and a way of thinking in the next century. He has restructured the institution with new chefs, and with his Young Chefs Unplugged, managed to promote at 100% the work of a chef to Young Chefs to get them motivated. Domenico Maggi: All the associations in Europe South did a great job last year. We’ve all had a very tough year with COVID-19 but the Italian Chefs Federation, FIC, did a tremendous job, continuously keeping in contact with the government to ensure support to all the chefs and the tourism industry, assisting chefs, organizing educational activities, and motivating them. This is due to the amazing structure that FIC has. Chef Lorenzo Alessio, with his immense passion, hard work and professional ability, led the Italian team to the final of the Bocuse d’Or. Peter Wright: I have been inspired by the words of hope from the hardest hit island nations who are heavily reliant on the tourism industry. They have been totally devasted by Covid through the closure of most of the hospitality business. Starting back and reopening will be difficult as they face both staff and supply shortages. Grappling with the new normal living post pandemic will be a huge challenge for all of us. Collectively the region has inspired me. Small things each day make a collective difference. Success is never the work of one, but the work of many, and as we start to emerge from our Covid coma’s we are hosting small events, planning for 2022 and beyond. Charles Carroll: Tough question but I think the recent and unexpected passing of Chef Soundararajan Palaniappan from India has really hit home for me. Chef Soundararajan and Chef Manjit Gill have been true inspirations for the hospitality industry and Worldchefs. Chef Soundararajan has dedicated his whole life for the betterment of our field. KK Yau: Chef Alen Chien of Taiwan Chefs Association. He had non-stop Innovative dishes from his multi-style cuisine and restaurants. He has been working with the Young Chefs and local community to support the farmers and F&B business to stay resilient during this pandemic and getting ready to rebound once the situation allowed.
