TORONTO — Victoria Rinsma from Hexagon Restaurant in Oakville, Ont., has been named the Canadian regional winner of the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition 2024-25 with her signature dish, “Across the Sea and Home Again.” She will now represent Canada at the Grand Finale in Milan, Italy in October 2025.
The Canadian regional final, hosted by TV personality Pay Chen, took place on October 23 at George Brown College in Toronto. Each chef contestant produced their signature dish for the panel of chef judges, which included Normand Laprise, Jason Bangerter and Nuit Regular.
Rafael Covarrubias, the executive chef at Hexagon Restaurant, served as Rinsma’s mentor for the Canadian Regional Finals, providing invaluable guidance and expertise to help refine her winning signature dish.
Three other talented young chefs were also awarded at the Canadian Regional Finals, winning the collateral awards:
Clement Cavoret from Tanière3 in Quebec, with his signature dish “Deerly Not Wasted,” won the Acqua Panna Award for Connection in Gastronomy; Sébastien Rémillard, Bocuse d’Or Canada – Chefs Canada, Quebec, with his signature dish “The Evolution of My Life,” received the S.Pellegrino Award for Social Responsibility; and Mary Yap from Toronto’s Islington Golf Club with her signature dish “Duck Sinigang (Tamarind Consommé),” took home the Fine Dining Lovers Food for Thought Award.
Now in its sixth edition, this year’s S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition received submissions from more than 1,000 young chefs from 15 countries worldwide. Each submission included the chef’s signature dish and was evaluated by culinary experts from ALMA, the World’s Leading International Educational and Training Centre for Italian Cuisine. The experts assessed each dish based on three criteria: technical skills, creativity, and a personal belief in the transformative power of gastronomy to make a positive change in society through food.
