Inside One of the World's Most Prestigious Culinary Contests
The world-renowned Waldorf Astoria Hotels Resorts are not only known for a level of luxury that most of us aspire to—but they also feature some of the world's most innovative culinary masters creating iconic dishes around the world. Each year the Taste of Waldorf Astoria brings together chef teams from across the globe to compete for a place on Waldorf’s celebrated menu across 26 locations. Step inside this epicurean experience to see which chef team presented the 2016 winning dish.
1/21A Culinary Icon
As a hallowed hall for food, the Waldorf Astoria has created many an iconic dish, including those that have become staples in kitchens around the world, like eggs Benedict, red velvet cake, and the Waldorf salad.
Liz Clayman2/21Curating the Next Taste of Waldorf Astoria
For the second year in a row, the Waldorf Astoria has paired
executive chefs from their hotel destinations around the globe,
together with James Beard Rising Stars to create the next iconic
dish for the Waldorf Astoria portfolio.
Liz Clayman3/21Around the World on a Plate
Each chef brought different culinary expertise to the competition as well as a knowledge of the various cultures and cuisines surrounding five unique Waldorf Astoria destinations: Orlando, Jerusalem, Beijing, New Orleans, Amsterdam.
Liz Clayman4/21First Things First: Sourcing Ingredients
The choice of ingredients and the tastes of each dish were inspired by and sourced from the different hotel locations.
5/21A Taste of the Gulf
Chefs Stefan Kauth and Jeremy Wayne from the Waldorf Astoria New Orleans incorporated succulent fresh shrimp into their dish, based on the prominent role shrimping plays in the culinary industry of New Orleans.
6/21Take a Bite of Freshness
Chefs Bernard Fiemeyer and Jamilka Borges from the Waldorf Astoria Orlando share a passion for fresh and premium ingredients, leading them to Long & Scott Farm, an Orlando area establishment and an exclusive grower of Zellwood corn which was ultimately incorporated into their final dish.
7/21Taking It to the Streets
The Waldorf Jerusalem team, Chefs Itzik Mizrachi Barak and Joseph “JJ” Johnson ventured out to the streets to find inspiration for their Taste of Waldorf Astoria dish.
8/21Incorporating Tradition
Since the Waldorf Jerusalem kitchen is kosher, the team focused on fresh fish, vegetables and spices for their final dish.
9/21Inspired by the Best of Local Produce
Amsterdam team Chefs Sidney Schutte and Grae Nonas are known for their use of vegetables in their restaurants so they visited a a local beech mushroom supplier that influenced the creation of their dish.
Daniel Krieger10/21A Focus on Sustainability
The Amsterdam team’s goal was to create a dish that showed the world the importance of sustainable, healthy eating while still delivering on flavor. They took a risk by creating the first ever vegetarian dish of the Taste of Waldorf competition.
11/21On the Hunt for Tradition
Chefs Benoit Chargy and Erik Bruner-Yang from Waldorf Astoria Beijing—whose final dish ultimately won the competition—toured a local food market looking for authentic Chinese ingredients to include in their final dish.
12/21Practice Makes Perfect
The Beijing chef team perfected their skills and learned traditional Chinese culinary techniques from the Waldorf Astoria dim sum chef.
Liz Clayman13/21Bringing the Dish to Life: Preparing to Plate
Every detail is carefully planned and discussed as the chef teams plate their signature dish. The Orlando chef team added the final touches to their dish, including shavings of “Florida truffle” —a preserved lemon resembling a truffle.
Liz Clayman14/21Bringing in a Pop of Color
The chefs from Waldorf Beijing incorporated a vibrant lavender purée into their Taste of Waldorf dish, made with the purple Okinawan sweet potato—first cultivated in Southeast Asia.
Liz Clayman15/21Creating and Executing the Vision
The Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem chefs started with the idea of a traditional Mediterranean ratatouille and went through several iterations in development. They settled on "The Seven Species”—wheat, barley, grapes, olives, figs, dates & pomegranates—for the final dish.
Liz Clayman16/21The Competition: May the Best Dish Win
Despite all the differences between the dishes, each worked to exhibit the common thread of excellence and beauty associated with the Waldorf Astoria. Final dishes were judged on presentation as well as a level of innovation, a simplicity of preparation, and flavor.
Liz Clayman17/21Waldorf Astoria Orlando
The sable fish with Florida truffle dish featured black cod, clams, and pine needle butter, with Zellwood corn, Florida truffle, sumac tomato and elderberry syrup.
Liz Clayman18/21Waldorf Astoria Amsterdam
The dish from chef team Amsterdam, “Beech Anemone,” was comprised of a confit beech mushroom, creamy Dutch cheese, smoked sous-vide egg yolk, sea succulents, pickled watermelon radish, and a conserved mushroom vinaigrette.
Liz Clayman19/21Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem
The Jerusalem team’s "The Seven Species" dish featured dorade cooked with aubergine purée and bread crust served over bulgur salad with homemade tahini, fresh vegetables, and herbs.
Liz Clayman20/21Waldorf Astoria New Orleans
The New Orleans dish highlighted fresh seared Cajun shrimp with cauliflower and mascarpone-filled cappelletti topped with fennel fronds and chili oil.
Liz Clayman21/21The Winning Dish: Waldorf Astoria Beijing
Featuring a Napa cabbage roll with Wagyu beef, black mushrooms, hoisin sauce & salted duck eggs, the word “Jing” represents China’s capital, Beijing. The winning chef pair created by Waldorf Astoria Master Chef Benoit Chargy and JBF Rising Star Finalist, Erik Bruner-Yang, named their creation based on its origin and use of local ingredients.
The year two winning dish will now be available at all 26 Waldorf Astoria destinations around the globe.
