The Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award has marked its 60th anniversary with the crowning of 19-year-old New Zealand chef Emily Morgan as the 2025 Nestlé Golden Chef of the Year.
Graduating from Auckland University of Technology last month, Morgan outcooked 11 other young chefs and took out top prize of a $12,000 culinary experience.
Judges from the Australian Culinary Federation, NZChefs, Nestlé Professional and industry professionals awarded Morgan’s three-course menu a trio of gold medals.
The winning dishes included a vegetarian entree of BUONDI coffee smoked baby beets, whipped ricotta, fennel, basil wafer, and pistachio. For the main, Morgan served a seared horopito spiced lamb rump, with Japanese squash, shallot crème, asparagus and sugar snap peas, savoury fig compote, and lamb floss.
“Chef Emily’s dishes demonstrated passion, remarkable creativity, meticulous attention to detail, and highly technical skills,” Nestlé executive chef and Golden Chef judge, Elke Travers, said.
“Each course told a story and showcased a deep understanding of flavour and presentation. Her approach on the day was stand-out, perfectly executing a range of complex elements under the pressure of the clock and live audience.”
Morgan also won the Most Creative Use of a Nestlé Product award and the Nestlé DOCELLO Best Dessert Dish, bringing her total prize value to $15,700.
“Competing in the Nestlé Golden Chef ‘s Hat Award is about expressing who I am as a chef and what I can contribute to the hospitality world moving forward in my career. It’s been an honour to share the stage with such talented chefs, and I am so grateful to each of the finalists for their ongoing support and friendship throughout this experience,” Morgan said.
The diamond anniversary saw a record-breaking 357 entries from across Australia and New Zealand. This year also marked the fifth anniversary of the Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award in New Zealand.
The grand final was held over two heats on 8-9 September at the Australian Culinary Federation (ACF) Challenge Arena at Fine Food Australia. The finalists had 3.5hrs to prepare and present four covers of a three-course meal.
In addition to the Nestlé Golden Chef of the Year, other grand final award winners included Ashleigh Handsake who won Best Signature Dish for her nostalgia-inspired carrot entree; Brooke Moore who took out the Most Sustainable Practice Award for her commitment to zero-waste cooking and fin-to-tail culinary practices with the Murry cod; Nicholas Rudeforth won MAGGI Best Savoury Dish; and Baxter Sanderson was crowned the BUONDI Crafting Moments Award winner.