Outrigger Fiji Beach Resort recently celebrated top wins at the Fiji Salon Culinaire 2022, including the highly anticipated Chef of the Year award.
Held in December 2022 in conjunction with HOTEC, this annual 2-day event had participants battling three categories. Chef of the Year criteria consisted of a main course and dessert, a mystery box, and a modern canapé.
Outrigger’s Fijian chefs proved to be the toughest to beat in this competition by successfully winning awards in all three major categories including Chef of the Year, Junior Chef of the Year, and Pastry Chef of the Year. With Executive Chef Priya Darshani leading the Outrigger Fiji team, the resort strives to foster and grow local talent to deliver exceptional food and beverage to resort guests.
Akshay Goundar – Chef of the Year
Akshay Goundar excitedly won the highly anticipated Chef of the Year for 2022. The judges had remarked Akshay for being the finest and most skillful young chef they have come across this year. Akshay leads the resort’s busy steak-house restaurant, Sundowner Bar and Grill. This beachfront restaurant offers a casual lunch, elegant dinner and relaxing sunset cocktails. In 2016 he won the Junior Chef of the Year during the Moffat Salon Culinaire. The resort works hard to cultivate professional development within the food and beverage team, shown through Akshay’s journey, working at the resort from 2014 and now winning the coveted Chef of the Year award.
Jeremiah Rafai – Junior Chef of the Year
This is the second year in a row where Jeremiah Rafai has won the Junior Chef of the Year, previously picking up the award in 2019. Criteria for the award consisted of a salad creation, a classic local dish with a modern twist, and a main course and desserts. Jeremiah started his career at Outrigger as a trainee chef and worked his way up to oversee the resort’s signature restaurant Ivi as a chef de partie. Ivi Restaurant is an award-winning fine dining restaurant serving creative Pacific Continental cuisine, located adjacent to its namesake – a 100-year old Ivi tree.
Lina Toge – Pastry Chef of the Year
Lina Toge has also achieved a back-to-back win, securing the award for Pastry Chef of the Year in 2019 as well as 2022. Tasked categories included a bread and pastry display, a classic local dessert with a modern twist, and cake decoration. Holding the position of Junior Sous Chef, Lina is the strongest team player in support to the resort’s Pastry Chef, leading a large kitchen operation.
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