2014 S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup

The wait for the 14th edition of the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup is about to end, and everything is almost ready for this unique 12-mile regatta that year after year takes place against the magnificent backdrop of the Venetian Lagoon. The 2014 competition will see the boats at the starting line on the 14th of June, while the classy related events will begin on the evening of the previous day. The regatta is a successful combination of some of the most appreciated and world renowned values of the Italian lifestyle: the pleasure of togetherness, the art of fine food and the passion for sailing.

A long time tradition, the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup 2014, organized together with the historic Venetian yacht club Compagnia della Vela, once again will be the occasion to see sailors, skippers, chefs and haute cuisine lovers from around the world side by side, sharing their passions and emotions. This peculiar mix reaches its climax on the sailboats, where the crewmen on deck do their best to be the fastest on the regatta field between the Lido of Venice and the Island of San Giorgio, while down in the galleys chefs focus on the preparation of extraordinary dishes, their way to contribute to the teams’ strive for victory.

The “fate” of these delicacies is to be judged by an outstanding panel of some of the most internationally renowned chefs, whose restaurants have all been ranked in the famous The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Among them the Peruvian Gaston Acurio, 18th in the 50 Best Restaurants 2014, creator of Astrid y Gastón, where local tradition meets haute cuisine; Andreas Caminada, three-Michelin-star chef – a real “star” of Swiss gastronomy –43nd place in the 50 Best Restaurants 2014; Umberto Bombana, an Italian chef whose 8½ Otto e Mezzo Restaurant in Hong Kong is well-established among the city’s best and who gained 10th place in the Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2014; Ivan Li, this year was honoured with Asia's 50 Best Lifetime Achievement Award; Davide Scabin, Combal.Zero creator, a two Michelin stars restaurant set in the superb background of Castello di Rivoli Museum of Contemporary Art; Paul Qui, a comeback to the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup, the American chef was the Young Chef of the Year in 2013 and, last but not least, Helena Rizzo, the fascinating Brazilian former model who turned into a fine cuisine artist, winner of the World’s Best Female Chef 2014 award.

Also Giacomo Missoni, third generation of the famous Italian fashion company Missoni, whose Timoteo hosts the Jury right from the very first edition of the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup, will be part of the panel. The Jury will be coordinated by Francesca Barberini, TV presenter and food writer, while Charles Reed, group managing director of The World’s 50 best academy, will be the President.

What makes the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup more thrilling is Inside the Cooking, a race within the race involving ten boats, each with a young talented international chef on board, representing a country where S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna - the fine dining waters - are marketed. For this 14th edition, the countries are: Australia, Korea, Belgium, Germany, Israel, Italy, Canada, Russia, the United Arab Emirates and the USA.

These young chefs are challenged to demonstrate their skills and creativity during two key moments of the event. On the eve of the regatta, Friday 13th June, they will run for the prestigious Acqua Panna & S.Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year 2014 Award. During the Young Chef of the Year Dinner, they will prepare their “signature dish” for the guests and judges to taste as part of the menu. The panel of judges for the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup will then assign scores to create a provisional ranking, that will be left undisclosed. The votes garnered by each chef’s signature dish will be added to the scores earned during the regatta day, so as to determine the Young Chef of the Year. The award winner will be revealed during the Saturday evening’s awards ceremony, along with the People’s Choice Award, a prize assigned by cuisine lovers, who represent the real gourmand point of view on the event. As a 2014 novelty, there will be a brand new prize, the Critics’ Choice Award, that will be assigned by journalists and bloggers attending the event.

Immediately after the conclusion of the regatta, on Saturday at noon, each young chef will present the dish prepared in his boat’s galley to the judges aboard the Timoteo (a fascinating boat belonging to the Missoni family) with a brief description of the recipe. The dishes will then be judged according to four criteria: presentation, difficulty of execution, taste and proper pairing with wine and water. In fact, each chef will have to choose the water that suites his dish best, whether it be the bright, sparkling and sophisticated S.Pellegrino or the light, smooth and velvety Acqua Panna. The votes gained by each dish will be then calculated together with the finish time of the boat it was prepared on, so as to establish the winner of the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup and the winning boat of the Inside the Cooking competition, that will be announced during the evening’s final awards ceremony.

All these coveted awards (the S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup, the Inside the Cooking, the Acqua Panna, the S.Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year 2014, the People’s Choice and the Critics’ Choice awards) will be presented to the winners on Saturday evening, 14th June, during the Awards Ceremony, to be held after the Gala dinner that this year will take place in the magnificent Palazzo Ducale, Doge’s Palace, a masterpiece of gothic architecture and a symbol of Venice. With their participation in the 14th edition of the Cooking Cup, S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna, synonymous with the gourmet food and wine culture across the globe and true ambassadors of the art of Italian living, reaffirm their commitment to enhancing and consolidating the fine dining culture all over the world and to promoting emerging talents.

Fine food devotees and sailing enthusiasts will have the possibility to follow the exciting S.Pellegrino Cooking Cup regatta live on Twitter (hashtag #SPcookingcup), discover the latest news and special contents including info, photos and videos of chefs and other participants on S.Pellegrino Facebook page and Instagram account or on Finedininglovers.com, the digital magazine for worldwide food enthusiasts, proudly endorsed by S.Pellegrino and Acqua Panna.

Curious about who will compete in the 2014 Acqua Panna & S.Pellegrino Young Chef of the Year Award? Here you are the complete list:

Australian, chef Jacob Davey (EST. RESTAURANT)

Korea, chef Kim Ho-Young (after working at JUNGSIK, now he came back to study)

Belgium, chef Thomas Troupin (La Menuiserie à Champagne)

Germany, chef Kirill Kinfelt (TrüffelSchwein)

Israel, chef Ahmad Salameh (King David hotel)

Italy, chef Luciano Monosilio (Pipero al Rex)

Canada, chef Danny Smiles (LE BREMNER)

Russia, chef Serguey Berezutskiy (As eat is)

United Arab Emirates, chef Christopher Graham (Atlantis the Palm)

US, chef Danny Bowien (Mission Chinese Food)