Y O U T H Team Captain Christopher (Chris) Malone Sous Chef Balthazar Restaurant Chris is a young chef who has won nearly every award as an apprentice, he won the Australian chef of the year in Melbourne in 2015 and has also won his way through to the world final of the Hans Bueschkens competition which is the WACS competition for young chefs where he will represent the Pacific Rim. Chris says: Representing your country in the culinary Olympics will be the ultimate experience, it is a great opportunity to meet other young chefs and network with our peers from other countries, while I have a lot of individual commitments in 2016 it will be great to work with the team and experience this great event
Vice Captain Cherise Davids Chef De Partie The Royal Cherise is the only survivor of the Gold and Silver medal winning team from the Olympics in 2012, so she has experienced what it takes to achieve, she was part of the youth team that competed in Korea in 2013 and also in WA Oceanafest 2015. Cherise says, I really enjoy the competition, although I don t believe people understand how demanding and time consuming it is to get to medal standard. I am now the old girl of the team when last time I was the baby. The experience in 2012 was amazing, to see chefs from all over the world in one place and realise that not only that you are part of it, but that your skills and those of your team mates placed you in the top ten countries was so exciting, it would be so great to push it to be in the top five, what an achievement that would be Julia Buri 3nd Year Pastry Apprentice Pastry Chef, Joondalup Resort Hotel Julia experienced the heat of competition as the pastry chef of the Silver medal winning WA team at the 2015 WA Oceanafest, this has encouraged her to continue competing. Julia says the experience I will gain through this opportunity will no doubt better me as a young up and coming pastry chef
Neil Soriano 3rd Year Apprentice Chef University Club of Western Australia Originally from the Philippines, Neil came to Australia to pursue his culinary dreams, he got his first taste of competition by competing for the University club team in WA Oceanafest and was delighted when his chef nominated him for the National Youth Team. Neil Says: it is a great honour to be selected as part of the team, it give me the opportunity to enhance my knowledge, skills and develop a deeper understanding of food. I am looking forward to working with the other members of the team to achieving the best results possible Mark Johnson 2nd Year Apprentice Chef Co-Op Dining Mark has been the rising star of 2015, winning not only state titles, but also the national title of 2nd year apprentice. He has competed with the youth team in WA Oceanfest and is working hard on developing the skills to be a chef. Mark says, I am looking forward to meeting all the chefs we will encounter at international competition and seeing the different style of food, I am eager to follow in the footsteps of the two successful youth teams of 2008 & 2012, it is going to be demanding and hard work but as a team we will give it everything to achieved that elusive double gold that Pat wants.
Jaimi Rogers 2nd Year Apprentice Chef, Bib & Tucker Restaurant Jaimi started her apprenticeship in Geraldton and has competed in the state Apprenticeship of the Year Finals where she was placed third, since moving to Perth, she has taken every opportunity to get involved within the industry. Jaimi says, being a member of the Youth team gives me the opportunity to learn from the more experienced team members, I look forward to becoming an integral member of a team that can compete on the international stage and absorbing all the skills and information I will experience Sophie Cornes 2 Year Apprentice Chef Clarke s of North Beach Sophie competed in the Battle of the States for WA in Sydney in 2015 and really enjoyed the heat of competition and the excitement of winning the national title., She enjoyed it so much that she was looking forward to 2016 to see what competitions she could get involved with, Sophie say s, I was so excited when my chefs told me they had put me forward for the youth team but I taught they were joking with me, but when I was told I had an interview with Chef O Brien, I realised they were serious, what an opportunity, now as part of the team I get to work with guys who are as passionate and dedicated to cooking as I am and I get to go to international competitions where we will meet young chefs from all over the world, it is unbelievably exciting so thanks to everyone for the support
Team Manager Patrick O Brien Executive Director, Hospitality & Trades, West Coast Institute, Patrick has been the manager of the Youth team since 2002, having brought teams to many international competitions including two Olympics, the 2012 Olympic included both Youth and Senior teams, Olympic results to date include two gold and four silver medals, Patrick says it is not only rewarding to give something back to the young people of this industry, but when you see the look on their faces going to collect their medals, it priceless, we are ranked in 7th place in the world with a silver & gold, which is the same result as 2008, two brilliant teams, I have explained to the team that I would like two gold, well an old man can still dream Pastry Consultant & Transport Manager Matt McBain (Pops) Matt is from Victoria and he is known throughout our industry as Pops not because of his youthful appearance but for his Olympic experience, this will be sixth Olympics and he will be competing in individual competition as well as assisting the team in the pastry area, his guidance will be invaluable. This will be the first time he has officially joined the junior team and we welcome him on board< Matt Says: I consider it a great opportunity to be part of the National Youth Culinary team for 2016, to be able to support, mentor and coach this talented group of young chefs in the upcoming events during 2016, I am sure this will be memorable 2016 for the Youth team. Assistant Team manager & Logistics Manager Peter Tischhauser Chef Trainer, Acacia Prison, Serco Australia Peter has been involved with the national teams since 2005, he also has two Olympics under his belt with the same results, He is the engine room of the team and insures we are where we need to be and have the tools to achieve the team s goals. Peter says while it takes a lot of planning, it s great to see these young people in action at the highest international level and see them grow over time, I take great satisfaction in the knowledge that I assisted them to achieve