World Class Finals, Sokyo - winner announced

Tuesday June 12 saw Sydney food and drink fans join World Class finalists Canvas’s Angus Burton, Black Pearl’s Dan Gregory, The Alchemist’s Joel Persson, The Roosevelt’s Phil Gandevia, Laneway’s Perryn Collier, Kodiak Club’s Fred Siggins, Lily Black's Callan Green, BLACK by Ezard's Michael Chiem, Rockpool Bar & Grill's Ryan Gavin and Hemmesphere’s Tim Philips in a festival of eats and drinks at mod-Japanese restaurant Sokyo.

Members of the public joined a panel of industry professionals including Momofuku’s Ben Greeno, Ms G’s Dan Hong, Adriano Zumbo, Gourmet Traveller’s chief restaurant critic Pat Nourse and Time Out’s Food and Drink editor, Myffy Rigby.

Over five courses with matching cocktails, the room judged which they liked best. Gandevia’s drink, the Haru No Yuki, a mix of Ciroc vodka, mandarin, coriander and paprika, was paired with a silky fan of whiting sashimi amped up with white sesame oil and soy sauce. The other cocktail paired with the first course was by Hemmesphere's Tim Phillips. The Sesa-Who? Sesa-Me Sour, made with fresh lime and celery bitters shaken with baby beetroot infused Ciroc vodka.

Chiem deconstructed his drink, serving a toasty brown rice tea with a separate glass of Talisker 10 year old single malt whisky, Campari and Lillet Blanc. The cocktail accompanied seared snapper with a festival of black truffles. The Alchemist's Joel Persson's Chopsticks Sour was the other cocktail paired here - Tanqueray no. Ten gin together with tart Pariya berries and sweet hibiscus liquor finished with a smoky hint of Talisker

Perryn Collier’s Matcha Match - a light, effervescent mix of green tea infused Ciroc vodka, chardonnay verjus, sparkling wine and a Talisker wash – did a beautiful job cutting through the bite-sized pieces of tender abalone tempura. The other cocktail match was Memoirs of a Cocktail by Fred Siggins of the Kodiak Club in Victoria.

Gavin’s Cobbler of Tanqueray No. Ten, mandarin and parsley accompanied slices of grilled lamb loin with pickled daikon and a tagliatelle of zucchini while Dan Gregory of Black Pearl's, Cuillin Hills was also a great match.

Callan Green’s Tanqueray No. Ten-fuelled Clockface Cocktail stood up well against spicy tuna with crisp rice and snapper sushi as did Fruit de la Passion by Angus Burton of Canvas.

After all that, the winner of this year’s national World Class final was Tim Phillips of Hemmesphere! Tim will now go through to represent Australia in Rio at the international finals.