Every year at the prestigious chef competition International Salon Culinaire, which will take place alongside HRC on 25-27 March 2024 at ExCeL London, the top chef or chef team in various competition categories are honoured with ‘Best in Class’ by the panel of expert judges.

This year’s Live Theatre ‘Best in Class’ winners received the exciting opportunity from Unox, one of the event’s exclusive equipment partners, to venture on an all-expenses-paid trip to Italy, which included getting the chance to experience the enchanting city of Venice and an opportunity to explore neighbouring Padova. 

The tour of Venice kicked-off with the chefs taking a water taxi from the airport for an exciting water tour of the iconic city, checking out the famous Sculpture “Building Bridges” by Lorenzo Quinn and the famous Piazza San Marco followed by stopping off for an unforgettable dinner and a glass of wine at the restaurant Nevodi, before heading to Padova, near the UNOX global headquarters.  

The visit also gave the chefs the chance to explore the Unox head office in Padova, where the company’s extensive range of professional catering ovens is manufactured. Along with a chance to explore their factories, the chefs were also introduced to some of their newest ovens and products, including the Unox Bakertop-X, the new professional high-performance combi oven. Equipped with a state-of-the-art operating system and intelligent technology. Designed to perfectly handle any pastry and bakery cooking process.

Rowan Brooks, Senior Sous Chef of Linklaters and one of the Best in Class winners of the Craft Guild of Chefs National Chef team of the Year, said: “All the work and effort put into our entry for Salon Culinaire truly paid off, getting to tour Venice and Padova and enjoy the food and culture Unox provided, with likeminded individuals, for me was career defining, the tour of the Unox HQ was also a real eye opener for me. Hearing the history of the company and how it started really pushed their approach to being a quality driven business and this was reflected in the products they showcased which really were setting a new industry standard.

"Best decision I’ve made to enter Salon Culinaire and glad I pushed myself to compete.”

The trip ended with a walking tour of historic Padova, which included famous sites such as the University of Padua, Caffè Pedrocchi where the chefs had a chance to taste its unique green coffee (with its recipe a closely guarded secret). Finally, the Ragione Palace which contained the bustling food markets of Padova and saw the chefs tasting all sorts of different flavours before heading back to the UK.

Amy Spargo, Marketing Manager for International Salon Culinaire, added: “Thanks to Unox for a fantastic trip celebrating our Salon Best in Class Live Theatre winners and showing us the amazing sights, sounds (and of course tastes) of Venice and Padua!"

Marco Santinello, Sales Manager at Unox UK, concluded by saying: “Our journey with the Salon Culinaire winners was a fusion of culinary mastery and technological excellence. It was great to share a fantastic few days with the winners, where we showcased our new innovative CHEFTOP-X combi oven and Digital.ID operating system. We got to show them what lies behind UNOX, by taking them on a tour of our production sites to see how our ovens are made, as well as taking in the history and sights of our fantastic region with visits to Padova and Venice.

"Together, we savoured the perfect blend of tradition and future. We hope we have been able to provide the winners with some useful insights to help them achieve their next successes…with our products in their kitchens!"

International Salon Culinaire 2024 will open for entries in November 2023. Keep an eye on internationalsalonculinaire.co.uk for all the latest news from the competition, which takes place alongside HRC on 25-27 March 2024 at ExCeL London.