Over the weekend, the Association of Head Chefs and Confectioners of Lithuanian Restaurants (LRVVKA) organized the international hospitality exhibition "BaltShop. BaltHotel. During BaltGastro 2018" he chose the best Lithuanian chef. It became him restaurant Sweet Root Executive Chef Justin Misius.
The second place went to the chef of restaurant "4" in Palanga - Gabriel Zajac, and the third place to Bernard Anužis, who in 2016 took second place in the Lithuanian Young Chefs Championship and was just a hair behind the winner.
The chefs' championship was held at the exhibition and congress center "Litexpoand the Best Chef Awards at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.
The excitement got in the way of winning
This year, the best Lithuanian chef was chosen by an international jury, made up of professionals from Sweden, Latvia and Estonia. Stanislavas Kizenevičius, a member of LRVVKA, was appointed as the technical judge of the competition.
"The most common mistakes made by the participants were caused by the excitement and tension that comes with running out of time. For example, quite a few participants did not follow the hygiene requirements of the competition due to haste and received penalty points for this. However, I would really like to praise them for their creativity, the use of new technologies and, in general, their desire and courage to participate in this championship", S. Kizenevičius said just after the fights in the ring and added that the winner Justinas Misius was the most prepared for this competition in advance.
The winner grew up as a chef in one of the best restaurants in the country
Justinas Misius competed in the ring together with other well-known Lithuanian chefs. Among them were Deivydas Praspaliauskas, Ernestas Žitkauskas, restaurant "Amandus", Gabrielius Zajac, restaurant "4", Bernardas Anužis, Tomas Rybakovas, restaurant "Esperanza Resort", Vilius Ručinskas, restaurant "Trinity", Kęstutis Bartkus, restaurant "Karpynė".
From all of them, Mr. Misius stood out for his ability to manage stress and perfectly organize his work in the ring, which, according to the competition's technical judge Stanislav Kizenevičius, determines even 60% of the results. good luck
The idea of connecting his future with cooking came to chef Justin Misius while he was still at school: "I was not inclined towards exact sciences, I was attracted to creative professions, art disciplines, and finally the kitchen became a space for self-expression for me," J. Misius says.
By the way, he is one of the few chefs in Lithuania who had the most internships abroad, and most of those places have Michelin stars. Justin Misius has been at Sweet Root since the beginning and it is still his most stable place of work and creativity. This year, this restaurant was among the top three restaurants in the country in the annual "30 Best Restaurants" election.
The fight for the title lasted more than three hours
Within 3 hours 30 minutes contestants had to demonstrate their creativity and prepare three dishes: a cold appetizer of scallops; a hot (main) dish, necessarily using Reaton's quail components and demonstrating various meat preparation technologies; dessert, definitely using wild cranberries, "Minordija" almond flour and mead.
"As in similar world-class competitions, we evaluated the chef's preparation: how he looks, what he brings with him, how he prepares the products for the competition, how well he knows and can organize his work, and how clean he maintains the ring during work. Sustainability is a very important factor. We looked at how many products the participant used and how much they threw away", Jaroslavas Orševskis, president of the Association of Head Chefs and Pastry Chefs of Lithuanian Restaurants, highlighted the criteria of the jury.
The competition, organized every two years, aims to discover the most talented and hardworking chefs in Lithuania. Therefore, there are several categories of matches. In addition to the best chef in the country, in this championship, the day before, young people competed for the title of "Best Young Lithuanian Chef".
This year, this motivating title was won by Jonita Šeščilaitė, restaurant "Esperanza Resort". The second place went to Erika Janerik, restaurant "Ertlio namas", and the third place to Žilvin Jokubauskas, restaurant "Onorė". Also, during the championship, the best chef and bartender team was chosen. These are Vilius Ručinskas and Kristijonas Juknevičius, Trinity restaurant.
"With this competition, we aim to discover as many new talents as possible, to attract the younger generation to choose this specialty. These competitions are a springboard for young chefs to become famous and gain experience", says LRVVKA president J. Orševskis.
