On 1 April, the culinary industry met for the first major industry event without restrictions in a long time. Around 400 guests accepted the invitation from Transgourmet/Prodega to the Casino Bern. As part of "gusto22", the young chefs were celebrated and Fynn Thielen was named the best apprentice chef of 2022.
The 17-year-old is in his second year of apprenticeship at The Dolder Grand in Zurich and beat eight competitors in the final of the Swiss championship for apprentice chefs a day earlier.
The participants in the live cooking competition at the Baden Vocational School (BBB) had three hours to prepare the starters and main courses they had created themselves in advance. They were assessed by a jury of experts as they worked, and a second jury then tasted the dishes anonymously.
Fynn Thielen convinced with a duet of Alpine char, confit and pickled as tartare, fennel cooked in bergamot stock and spice stock and dill oil for the starter. For the main course he served teres major of pork, pork jus, pickled pork tongue in filo dough, white cabbage balls, mustard caviar, mountain potato mash and organic carrots with vanilla.
Ranking list:
| Rank | Name | Place of work | Apprenticeship year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fynn Thielen | The Dolder Grand, Zurich | 2. |
| 2 | Athina Karavouzi | Park Hyatt, Zurich | 2. |
| 3 | Luca Heiniger | Restaurant Panorama Hartlisberg, Steffisburg | 3. |
| 4 | Ilya Robin Feller | Restaurant Dampfschiff, Thun | 2. |
| 4 | Andreas Grossen | Restaurant Alpenblick, Adelboden | 2. |
| 4 | Patrick Lätsch | University Hospital, Zurich | 2. |
| 4 | Marius Rohde | Wagerenhof Foundation, Uster | 3. |
| 4 | César Luis Sanchez | Zieglerküche City of Bern, Bern | 2. |
| 4 | Noah Waber | Congress Hotel Seepark, Thun | 2. |
