Time Out Taste Test 2010 - results

Est. restaurant swept the board at the inaugural Time Out Taste Test with their apprentices finishing first and second in the search for Sydney's best up-and-coming young chef.

Stephanie Coupland, the only female finalist, took top honours. Diners at the Time Out Taste Test final at Bistro CBD on Monday 22 March, 2010, judged her Japanese-style entree of sashimi of yellowfin tuna with wasabi sorbet, coriander and shiso pearls to be the best dish.

Michael Mu Sung, also from est., came second with his dessert of chocolate raspberry cake with white chocolate mousse, almond soil and blueberry sorbet.

In what was an extremely close and tense final that had to go to a recount, Ryka Johnson from Rockpool and Daniel Sturman from est. were voted in joint third place.

To enter the competition, apprentice chefs had to concoct an original dish and send it in to Time Out. The top 12 dishes were selected and collated into two six-course tasting menus. The 12 apprentices were invited to compete by preparing their dish for 80 people, with the top two chefs from each heat advancing through to the final cook-off.

"I want to thank all the apprentices involved and their head chefs who have put their reputations on the line in supporting this new concept," said Time Out Sydney's editor, Dan Rookwood. "Food and drink are a massively important part of Time Out magazine, in all 32 editions around the world – and Time Out Sydney is no different.

"We’re extremely proud to put our name to this event as part of the March into Merivale food festival. And we hope it will become an annual event that grows in prestige and really supports the fantastic emerging culinary talent in Sydney and throughout Australia."

With tickets having sold out in under 25 minutes, the final was attended by 90 of Sydney's most on-the-ball foodies. Several of Sydney's top head chefs were among them, including Mark Best from Marque, Phil Wood from Rockpool and Alessandro Pavoni from Ormeggio.

Not only did Stephanie take home the title of Sydney's best apprentice chef, she also won:
• two return flights to New Zealand, courtesy of Emirates
• a set of professional standard chef’s knives from Global Knives
• a set of professional standard chef’s pans from Scanpan
• a stage (which is chef-speak for a work placement) at top Melbourne restaurant Vue de Monde
• $500 dinner voucher at Rockpool
• plus a profile in Time Out Sydney's May issue

In second place, Michael won:
• $200 voucher to Otto 
• a bottle of Ardbeg single malt Scotch whisky 
• a set of Riedel wine glasses

The 12 apprentices involved in the competition were as follows:

Stephanie Coupland, Michael Mu Sung and Daniel Sturman from est.

Ryka Johnson from Rockpool.

Alex Keene from Ormeggio.

Zen Jay Ong from Aqua Dining.

Victor Liong and Julie Edmunds from Marque.

Khanh Nguyen from Red Lantern.

Sean Yoonfrom Quay.

Alex Wongfrom China Doll, and

Elliot Vonthethoff from Glebe Point Diner.

Time Out thanks all the sponsors, including alcohol partners Moet & Chandon and Cointreau. 

More on March into Merivale.

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