Meet the Local Juries for S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2024-25
These are the chefs who will choose the regional winners.
On this page you will find details about the Local Juries for the 15 Regional Finals of S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2024-25. The page will be updated as the Local Juries are announced.
At each Regional Final, the first stage of the Competition, a jury of revered local chefs will judge the signature dishes of the young hopefuls. This local jury will then choose a regional winner, who will go on to cook off against the other 14 regional winners at the Grand Finale in Milan in 2025, for a chance to be crowned the best young chef in the world.
Interested in applying or know someone that is? Applications are open for this edition of the Competition until 19 June 2024. More details, including how to apply, can be found here.
The S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition is the world’s greatest culinary talent search; a chance for young chefs to share their unique vision with the world through a signature dish, and to help shape the future of gastronomy.
Click on the area below to find out more about each Local Jury.
ITALY
Giancarlo Perbellini
Perbellini grew up in a food family. In 1989, at the age of 26, he opened the Perbellini restaurant in Isola Rizza, which went on to win two Michelin stars. An entrepreneurial chef, he has many restaurants, most recently Locanda Perbellini ai Beati in Garda. Since January 2024, he has been Executive Chef of the UK’s Pasta Evangelists brand. He is also a published author.
Matteo Metullio
Having worked with Norbert Niederkofler at Alta Badia, Metullio arrived at La Siriola, the restaurant of the Ciasa Salares hotel in the Dolomites at the turn of 2012/13, bringing in chef friend Davide De Pra to work alongside him. The Michelin Guide confirmed a star in 2013, before a second followed in 2017. The duo are now executive chefs at two-star Harry’s Trieste. Among the cornerstones of his cooking philosophy is the constant search for and exaltation of excellent raw materials without territorial limits.
Karime López
Born and raised in Querétaro, north of Mexico City, chef Karime López leads, alongside, Takahiko Kondo, Michelin-starred Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura in Florence. Her passion for food has led her to work in the most prestigious kitchens around the world: from Spain (Can Fabes in Catalonia) to Mexico (Pujol in Mexico City), from Peru (as sous chef at Central in Lima) to Japan (RyuGin in Tokyo), before landing at Osteria Francescana in Modena and then, finally, at Gucci Osteria in 2018.
Isabella Potì
Born in Rome, Potì showed passion and aptitude for cooking from an early age. After attending hotel school in Lecce, her career took off in London alongside her teacher Claude Bosi. Her talent then took her to Spain, where she studied with Paco Torreblanca and Martín Berasategui, to Copenhagen at Geranium, and to Menton at Mirazur. Together with her partner, Floriano Pellegrino, she founded the one-Michelin-starred restaurant Bros' in Lecce, Salento.
Davide Di Fabio
After attending hotel management school in San Benedetto del Tronto, Di Fabio began working in Modena in 2005, at Massimo Bottura's Osteria Francescana. In 2021, he became the chef at the Michelin-starred Dalla Gioconda restaurant in Gabicce Monte. He likes dishes with a real and direct flavour, but with deep roots in the imagination.
LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES
Janaína Torres
A Brazilian culinary powerhouse with a social conscience, Torres is the chef-owner of several award-winning gastronomic businesses in the same São Paulo neighbourhood where she grew up. A Casa do Porco was born in 2015 and has become one of the most sought-after dining experiences in the region, offering inspiring tasting menus at affordable prices and, most recently, ranking at number 12 at The World 50 Best Restaurants 2023. Torres was recognised as the Best Female Chef in Latin America in 2023 and The World's Best Female Chef in 2024.
Mario Castrellón
The chef behind Panama City's lauded Maito, along with a small empire of other restaurants in the country, is a pioneer in Central America. Castrellón's efforts to educate, empower and enlighten future generations of culinary talent looking to enter the industry are noteworthy, as is his work with charities such as the Fundación Calicanto that helps socially vulnerable women throughout Panama. Castrellón's work as a culinary pioneer, community leader and philanthropist are just some of the reasons behind his huge popularity.
Gabriela Cámara
A Mexican entrepreneur born in Chihuahua, Cámara founded Contramar in Mexico City in 1998, marking the beginning of a successful career in the restaurant industry. Betting on a simple cuisine with high-quality fresh ingredients, she expanded her gastronomic empire with the opening of Entremar and Expendio Durango. In 2021, she added Caracol de Mar and Itacate de Mar to her repertoire, consolidating the Grupo Contramar. Beyond her business success, she is committed to sustainability and social responsibility, working closely with suppliers and collaborating on projects related to responsible fishing and agriculture.
James Berckemeyer
With over 23 years of experience in the industry, Berckemeyer is a chef, entrepreneur and brand ambassador. He is the founder of the Cosme, Alado and Pánguche restaurants, studied at Cordon Bleu in Peru, and did a Master of Cooking at the ICIF (International Culinary Institute for Foreigners) in Italy. He has worked in some of the most prestigious restaurants in the world such as Agli Amici (Italy), El Celler de Can Roca (Spain) and Arzak (Spain).
Dolli Irigoyen
An Argentine chef, television presenter and author, Irigoyen has more than 50 years’ experience and currently works in her space known as Espacio Dolli, which has a test kitchen, a culinary school, an event space, a library and a store. She was a columnist for the national newspaper La Nación and has published several books, from Productos Argentino to Cocina para Todos. She participates as a judge on television programs such as MasterChef Celebrity Argentina and Bake-Off Argentina, and has chaired the Argentine committee for the Bocuse d'Or.
SOUTH EAST EUROPE & MEDITERRANEAN
Victor Borg
Under Grain in Valetta, Malta has held a Michelin star for five years and there, chef Borg takes great pride in offering classic, French-inspired dining with refined service. At the more casual Bib Gourmand-recognised Grain Street he has a curated an à la carte menu with European-inspired dishes featuring a selection of snacks, charcuterie and sharing plates that shows off the chef’s versatility as well as the Mediterranean island’s diverse culinary offering.
Alexandru Iacob
Iacob is one of Romania's best-known chefs. He has worked in Austria and Germany and completed a master's degree in gastronomy at the Basque Culinary Center. After returning
to Romania, he won Top Chef and inspired by a trip to Mexico, opened Mat restaurant in Bucharest, together with friend chef Cristi Dascaleanu, promising the best tacos in Romania. Everything there is made in house, from the masa to home-smoked meats.
Iwona Niemczewska
Niemczewska gave up a legal career in 2010, graduating from Le Cordon Bleu in London before completing professional training at the Paul Bocuse Institute in Lyon. On the premises of her former law office in Szczecin, Poland, she opened a signature restaurant Z Drugiej Strony Lustra (‘The Other Side of the Mirror’), which has been awarded two toques by Gault&Millau since 2016. In 2019 she was chosen as the Culinary Personality of the Year in Poland. She is a member of the board of Chaine des Rotisseurs Bailliage of Poland (Conseiller Culinaire) and Vice President of the Polish Culinary Chefs Association.
Thanos Feskos
Feskos is co-Executive Chef at two-Michelin-starred Delta Restaurant in Athens and ex-Head Chef at Geranium in Copenhagen, which holds three Michelin stars and was named Best Restaurant in the World by The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2022. Feskos started cooking at the age of 18 and left Greece aged 20 to travel the world and collect experiences. “Cooking unites people and countries,” he says.
Igor Jagodic
Jagodic has been running Michelin-starred Strelec at Ljubljana Castle since 2012 and since 2022 has been co-owner of the restaurant. Before Strelec he worked all over Slovenia and further afield in Europe and was a member of the Slovenian culinary team that won two silver medals at the 2008 Culinary Olympiad in Erfurt. He was awarded Chef of the Year 2019 by Gault&Millau and also teaches at the Ljubljana High School for Hospitality and Tourism.
