Nestlé Toque d’Or has shaken off the recent decision by NZChefs to postpone its NZ Hospitality Championships and will proceed at a new venue.
Nestlé Professional Marketing Manager NZ Andrew Madill said the iconic event had been impacted by NZChefs’ decision, as it was going to take place within the broader NZ Hospitality Championships.
“Regardless, Nestlé Professional and NZChefs were keen to work together to ensure that Nestlé Toque d’Or still went ahead in some form, thereby giving the country’s leading hospitality students a forum to battle it out for the top culinary award,” he says.
Darren Wright.
The event will now take place at NZMA in Mount Wellington, Auckland on Monday 12 August from 10.45 a.m. as originally intended. Competing will be the country’s top three premier teams including last year’s winners Ara Institute of Canterbury, New Zealand Defence Force and Otago Polytechnic Central Campus. Award winning chef Darren Wright remains the chief judge for the highly contested event.
NZChefs President Hughie Blues says the event will be a battle of the emerging culinary greats.
“We expect the intensity and quality of what’s created to be at an exceptionally high level. Members of these three teams will be the ones to watch, in terms of New Zealand’s next generation of culinary superstars.”
The format will remain the same with a live kitchen cook off and industry leading judging panel. It will culminate in a special awards dinner at NZMA where the winning team will be announced.
Nestlé Toque d’Or is New Zealand’s longest running and most prestigious student cookery and food service event. It is held in 17 countries around the world and has launched the careers of several world-famous chefs, including Jamie Oliver.
Organised by NZChefs in conjunction with Nestlé Professional, the event is supported by other top organisations involved in the hospitality industry including: Akaroa Salmon, Beef + Lamb New Zealand, Fresh Connection, House of Knives, Moffat and the NZ Specialist Cheesemakers Association.
