Hilton held the F&B Masters 2025 Japan, Korea & Micronesia finals at Hilton Tokyo Bay.
This contest, which began in the Asia Pacific region, allows participants from any department to compete in knowledge, skills, and creativity. This marks the ninth edition for the region, held over three days from February 18 to 20.
Six categories were conducted: Cuisine, Pastry, Sommelier, Bar, Barista, and Photo. A total of 146 people who passed the preliminary rounds in 30 hotels under 7 brands participated. The top three in each category were announced on the final day, and winners received prizes such as a winery tour and digital camera.
In the Cuisine division, participants created burgers and appetizers in two and a half hours, and in the Pastry division, participants made signature desserts and buffet desserts in two hours. Afterwards, they gave a 10-minute presentation before the judges. Three theme ingredients were announced on the day, and the participants were required to use at least one, testing their creativity.
In the Sommelier division, candidates were judged on a written test, blind tasting of five wines, and Q&A. The Bar division featured a written test and presentation of two cocktails. The Barista division included a written test and presentation of four cups of coffee including latte art. The Photo division was judged on photographs taken with a Sony smartphone Xperia, Instagram posting, and Q&A.
Judges included Tatsuya Noda, Director of Michelin Green Star-listed restaurant “nôl” and Takayuki Ishitani, third place at “World Barista Championship 2024.” Before the announcement of the winners, many judges gave highly favorable comments.
The winner of the Cuisine division was Takuma Kageyama from Conrad Tokyo, who created a vegetable burger with a patty made from potatoes, juice from eggplants, and a miso dengaku sauce twist. He commented, “I strive to provide dishes full of discovery by combining various ingredients, and this time, my wish to express deliciousness beyond beef with vegetables led to my victory.”
The recipient of the Best Dessert Special Award, who placed third in the Pastry division, was Aika Eguchi from Hilton Nagoya. She created a dessert featuring roasted pineapple with cold ice cream and warm sauce, commenting, “I hope you enjoy the perfect marriage of tartness, sweetness, and sauce.”
This year, for the first time, the Best Burger Special Award from the Cuisine division and Best Dessert Special Award from the Pastry division will be offered at hotels nationwide.
Notice
This article was generated using automatic translation by GPT-4 API. The translation may not be accurate.
