He entered at the last minute and is so glad he did – Michael Cole has been named Chef of the Year 2019, winning the prestigious title as well as $6500 cash and valuable prizes from major sponsors Unox, Anchor Food Professionals and Australian Pork. 

As the second-time winner and Australia’s representative in this year’s Bocuse d’Or global culinary contest, Cole was under pressure to perform, and he delivered, winning first his heat, then the semi-final and the grand final.

“I couldn’t be happier,” Mr Cole said.

“I really wanted to test myself and see how far I had come since I won Chef of the Year in 2017.

“I think it’s a great way to benchmark myself against the best of the best in this industry and competing inspires me to be more creative and disciplined.”

Head judge John McFadden said Cole didn’t waiver from the heat, to the semi and the grand final and scored highly for all his dishes.

“What set Michael apart from the get-go was his methodical and clinical approach, and the way he maintained a consistently high standard in his kitchen practices and culinary techniques,” he said.

“The standard in the grand final was incredibly high, it is amazing to see the calibre of chefs entering this competition and the prestige attached to being selected.”

Cole’s fellow grand finalists were Stokehouse Q’s newly appointed executive chef Ollie Hansford; RACV Cape Schanck Resort executive chef, Josh Pelham and The Windsor Hotel executive chef Tom Brockbank.

They each had to cook two dishes from a mystery box of ingredients in one hour, in front of a panel of expert judges and a huge crowd of cheering onlookers. This year the mystery box included pork liver, ear, belly, cheek and crepinette, plus chicken breast, kingfish, scallops and crabmeat, butter, cream, fingerlimes, raisins and red elk mustard cress. The chefs were also required to use a smoking gun.

“This was a real pressure test,” Mr McFadden said.

“The mystery box was very challenging and all four chefs performed phenomenally well.”

The Australian Professional Chef of the Year competition is one of the most rewarding in the country, with a total prize pool of $10,000. The winner of each heat receives $500, while the winner of the Grand Final receives $6000. In addition sponsor Ecolab awarded each grand finalist a bonus $500.

“This year’s event drew the largest ever audience to the competition at the heart of the show floor at Foodsevice Australia,” competition director, Gary Farrell said.

“Our MCs Peter Howard and Dani Valent kept the crowd informed and entertained, while the judging panel tirelessly gave their time and expertise to score each heat.”

The next Australian Professional Chef of the Year will be held at ICC Sydney May 17-19, 2020.

Top : L-R Michael Cole, Ollie Hansford, Tom Brockbank and Josh Pelham

Bottom: Michael Cole plates his ‘Assiette of pork’ with minutes to spare in the Chef of the Year Grand Final