Former Pittwater RSL Executive Chef John McFadden has just taken out the World Seafood Champion Title at the World Food Championship in Dallas, Texas with a near-perfect score of 99.15.
“The final was intense,” McFadden told Club Management. “One hour, 30 minutes to cook 11 plates, one show plate, 10 sample plates. The turn-in window opens at one hour, 20 and closes bang-on one hour, thirty. If you’re late, you’re disqualified.
“What I didn’t realise is you could have teams of two or three in the kitchen and I was the only one cooking on my own which makes the victory sweeter. Everyone watching, even competitors, said I was a machine and clinical around the kitchen.”
McFadden represented Australia at The World Food Championships after winning the local competition at Fine Food Australia Australia at ICC Sydney in October. Now National Business Development Manager at digital food safety company Squizify, the Sydney chef was supported by his employer to head to Dallas for the international competition. He secured his place in the top-10 cook-off after coming second in the first round last Friday, where he competed against 30 other teams.
McFadden entered the seafood competition seeded at 107 defeating the competition’s No.1 seed American Carol Koty.
McFadden goes through to the Final Table event in three months’ time, where all category winners cook off against each other for the position of top chef in the World Food Championship.
McFadden has worked in the two-hatted Grand Fine Dining Room at The Windsor Hotel, Melbourne; Xu Bistro at the Hyatt Regency, Sydney; Abode at ParkRoyal Darling Harbour, Sydney; and Hayman Island. He was also Executive Chef at the Al Aseel restaurant group. McFadden has also represented Good Drop Oils and has been a food circuit judge, including the National Chairman of Judges for Chef of the Year at Food Service Australia and has judged at Bocuse d’Or to select the Australian Culinary team.