The Hilton Abu Dhabi team with their black box ingredients: Prakash Parajuli, Anoop Chandra, Vinay Kumar Vishnoi and Praveen Kumar. The Hilton Abu Dhabi team with their black box ingredients: Prakash Parajuli, Anoop Chandra, Vinay Kumar Vishnoi and Praveen Kumar.

Tough competition
So, who were these talented chefs and mixologists? The F&B teams came from Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort, Hilton Abu Dhabi and Conrad Pezula Resort & Spa, in South Africa, while Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort & Spa, UAE, Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort, UAE and the Hilton Seychelles Northolme Resort & Spa all vyed for the title of Mixologist of the Year.

The culinary competition was close, but ultimately the winning team was Conrad Pezula, who were praised by the judges for their “farm to table” approach to cooking, and their creativity under pressure.

The team comprised executive chef Geoffrey Murray, commis hot cook Theodora Qeba, pastry chef Kim Fenner and assistant F&B manager Armand Louw.

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Bundgaard said: “Scoring between the winner and second runner-up was less than a 10% margin, a clear demonstration of the quality and skills on show at the event. 

However, the team from Conrad Pezula excel in key areas such as presentation of dishes and their versatility with ingredients and this gave them a slight edge. But the scores were tight throughout the event and Conrad Pezula were challenged right to the end of the competition”.

Executive chef of the winning team, Geoffrey Murray commented: “As a recent newcomer to the Hilton Worldwide family of hotels, I’m delighted that on our first attempt at entering a major international competition, the Conrad Pezula team was crowned champion and we did so against such tough competition”.

The winner of the Mixologist of the Year was Giovanni Bavajee, mixologist at Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort & Spa, who has now achieved the title for the second year running.

“It’s a huge honour to be voted number one mixologist at Hilton Worldwide MEA, for the second time. This year’s event, particularly the mystery black box competition, was intense and challenging but hugely enjoyable and I am already looking forward to the third F&B Masters event next year,” said Bavajee.

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