World Gourmet Summit Awards Of Excellence Recipients Share About The Experiences During Their Overseas Development Programme 2018
by WGS
@ 14 Dec 2018
Barcelona, Tokyo, Shanghai, Italy, Alicante, London: these are some of the places that World Gourmet Summit Award of Excellence 2018 finalists and recipients visited during the Overseas Development Programme.
Chef Louis Tay (far right) in Hide Yamamoto Restaurant, Macau
The ODP recipients include Mr. Alvin Gho (Boncru/Enomatic Sommelier of the Year), Chef Alvin Leong (Fabristeel Asian Cuisine Chef of the Year), Chef Angus Chow (MKN Chef of the Year), Mr. Daniel Quek (Luzerne Food & Beverage Manager of the Year), Chef Elvin Chew (Welbilt Rising Chef of the Year), Louis Tay (Halton Executive Chef of the Year), Mr. Thomas Koh (Meiko Restaurant Manager of the Year) and Chef Winnie Goh (Cacao Barry Pastry Chef of the Year), and they visited Italy, Shanghai, Barcelona, Tokyo, Shanghai, Macau, London and Alicante respectively.
From left: Mr Ru, Vice General Manager; Chef Alvin Leong; Mr Dong, General Manager; Chef Stepen Huang Xin
By visiting a different country, the awardees experienced different gastronomic cultures and met industry leaders. For Chef Leong, his visit to Shanghai Hongqiao Guest Hotel felt like a throwback, "I used to work in a Chinese kitchen as an apprentice. This trip was a reminder that working from the bottom to the top isn't easy. It takes a lot of effort behind the scenes: Picking up skillsets, improving it and executing it through the product." Chef Chew, who also visited Shanghai Disneyland Resort learnt about the passion behind an upscale tourist destination, "In the kitchen, I saw the creativity of the staff, and the chef who said that to work in Disney, one must have the 'Disney DNA' - putting your heart out to delight a customer, catering to their needs and surprising them in all ways possible".
The Overseas Development Programme has benefited chefs, sommeliers and even managers by giving them a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn from gastronomic experiences and success stories of renowned establishments.
Chef Elvin Chew (left) in Shanghai
About ODP:
Along with the World Gourmet Summit (WGS) - World Gourmet Awards (WGA), Singapore Tourism Board has partnered up with Peter Knipp Holdings and is offering an attachment of up to 10-12 days for a cross exposure program.
It is an initiative awarded to recipients and finalists of WGA (formerly known as Awards of Excellence), who are Singaporean or Permanent Residents of Singapore. This program serves to enhance the individual’s skill-sets and talents which fall in line with Singapore Tourism Board’s goals to groom local talents into industry and service leaders.
