Fat Duck owner Cameron Davies was the New Zealand’s representative at the Global Chefs Challenge in Singapore, at which chefs from across the world competed in four categories, demonstrating technical expertise, creativity, and precision.
It was the first time for Mr Davies in the prestigious event and he placed eighth.
"I’m really happy, over the moon with it. There is a lot of work into it as it’s tough competition.
"I’m hugely privileged and honoured to be able to represent my country doing that and to put on a good performance and came away with eighth ... I loved doing it. It was so cool."
The Te Anau chef got his ticket for the competition after being selected by the New Zealand’s Chefs Association and winning the Pacific Rim semifinal last year.
Mr Davies said there was a year and a-half of preparation for it, with a lot of hard work and challenges.
One was the distance between his team-mates — while he lived in Te Anau, his coach Mark Sycamore and junior chef Quinn Ojala were in Christchurch, so they had to co-ordinate training sessions from afar.
Another was the difficulty in importing specific ingredients he had to use during the challenge from the competition’s sponsor.
"We couldn’t get the Sterling [white] halibut from Norway ... We couldn’t get the acai puree from Boron Purees.
"We had plenty of challenges with not being able to source those ingredients and practise with those ingredients, so we had to work with it while you’re at the competition."
While all those were challenges, none were excuses and he felt so proud of the work they had achieved as everything "was meticulously planned".
The team had to cook four courses for 12 people and he said the competition was designed with a 25-page rule book.
Mr Davies said while he could put his name in the hat to be part of the event again, he felt it was time to give someone else "a crack".
"It’s a massive commitment ... The semifinals are in April in the Cook Islands, so I would have to start planning and training for the semifinal, probably next week.
"And I just don’t think my mind and my body is quite ready to go through the rigorous process that I needed to put myself through to get here."
He also said he wanted to spend more time with his partner and two boys.
Mr Davies said it had been a team effort and the support of his family and the community was essential.
