Jeongwon Yang in the pre-finals of the “Chef of the Year” competition!
Jeongwon Yang, trained master pastry chef, grew up in South Korea and has lived in Berlin for seven years, has qualified for the cooking competition “Chef of the Year”.
The 30-year-old Jeongwon Yang was already able to prevail against 100 competitors from all over Germany in the written preliminary competition in spring 2020 and was the only woman to qualify for the preliminary final. One special feature: as a trained master pastry chef, she is the only candidate who has not completed any cooking education.
Due to the pandemic, the competition had to be postponed. On 19.07.21, she will demonstrate her skills at the Kameha Grand Hotel in Bonn. She has seven hours to prepare her three-course menu in front of spectators for the competition jury. Only two of the eight contestants will be able to secure a place in the final in this preliminary round. A Swiss star chef and a chef from Baden have already qualified for the final. Will Jeongwon Yang now also succeed?
From Busan to Berlin
Raised in the port city of Busan in South Korea, Jeongwon Yang moved to mainland Europe at the young age of 18 to pursue her passion for European pastry. Instead of typical Korean pastries made of red beans, puffed rice and sesame seeds, she craved strudel doughs, yeast plaits and tartelettes. From 2011 to 2014, she completed her pastry apprenticeship at Cafe van Riggeln in Wiesbaden. Since 2015 she has been at home in Berlin and perfected her craft at various well-known addresses in the capital, such as the “Hotel Adlon“, the restaurant “einsunternull”, the restaurant “Tim Raue” or the star restaurant “Bandol sur mer“. At the beginning of 2021, she went back to South Korea for two months, where she gained new experience in the kitchen at the two-star restaurant Mosu* in Seoul.
Restaurant experience awakened in her a passion for cooking
Her many years of experience in restaurant kitchens awakened in her a passion for cooking. Especially the handling of food, the focus on the product and the spontaneity are what she appreciates about cooking. “I often trust my gut feeling when cooking. I don’t want to get caught up in unnecessary details that only make something look prettier. A dish has to be authentic and taste fabulous. The first bite should put a smile on your face and the last should make you wistful.”
Final at Anuga
The finalists will compete against each other in October 2021 at the world’s largest food fair, Anuga, in Cologne, Germany, to win the prestigious title of Chef of the Year and 10,000 euros in prize money.