The winners

I am Giacomo Centurión, a Gastronomy student at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. I am 20 years old and I am still discovering which path I want to follow in the kitchen, but there is one thing I am sure of: I want to build my own.

My track record is still short. I have worked in small kitchens in Peru and, although they were not big restaurants, I feel that this is precisely where I have learned the most. In a small space you are much closer to everything: to the products, to the mistakes, to your colleagues and to every part of the service. I learned that cooking is not only knowing how to prepare a dish, but also working under pressure, adapting, finding solutions when something does not turn out as expected and understanding that every person in a kitchen matters. Those experiences taught me much more than I imagined and confirmed that I wanted to keep learning.

I have always been a curious person. I like to ask myself why things are the way they are and what could happen if I looked at them from another perspective. That curiosity is one of the reasons I love gastronomy so much. I enjoy researching ingredients, learning their stories, trying combinations, making mistakes and trying again. Many times an idea comes from something as simple as a product I find, a story I hear, a painting, a song or a personal experience.

For me, cooking is a form of expression and also a way of knowing. Through it I can get closer to history, to culture and to people, and at the same time find a space to experiment and create. I am especially interested in working with products and preparations that are part of Peruvian identity, and in finding new possibilities in them without losing what gives them meaning.

Art also has an important place in my life. I like music, painting, photography, design and anything that lets me look at things from different points of view. I often find inspiration outside gastronomy and then try to bring those ideas to a dish. I believe that mix of references is what allows each proposal to have something different to say.

One of my greatest dreams is to develop a proposal that truly represents me and that, over time, I can recognize as my own. I want to keep getting to know Peru, travel, learn from other cultures and discover new ways of relating to food. I would also like to create experiences that do not stop at flavor, but that spark curiosity, emotions or even questions in whoever tastes them.

What I hope for from the Americas Young Chef Award is, above all, to learn and to face something different. I am interested in meeting other young people on similar paths, hearing their ideas and discovering other ways of understanding gastronomy. I also want to test myself, step outside what I already know and make the most of every experience, even those in which I might make mistakes. For me, taking part is an opportunity to keep growing and to get a little closer to discovering what I want to do in this world.

Hi, I am Diego Chévez, I am 21 years old and I am from Tegucigalpa, Honduras. I am studying for a Bachelor’s degree in Gastronomy at UNITEC and I am in my final year. I have a small pastry business, I have done catering and I have had the opportunity to work in different areas of the kitchen.

When I was a child I thought I was going to be a painter. I have always loved oil painting, but part of me felt that it was not the only way to express myself. Over time I understood that art is not only in a painting, a drawing or a song. It is also in what we observe, hear, feel and taste. That is how I discovered that I could bring together two things I have always been passionate about: art and gastronomy.

From a very young age I told my parents that I wanted to make cakes, be a pastry chef and learn to cook. Today I am deeply grateful to them, because they always pushed me to pursue my dreams, to do what I am passionate about and to develop my creativity. Thanks to that support I gradually discovered that this is truly my thing.

Someday I want to have my own business and, through it, share with other people a little piece of the love I feel for gastronomy. Because for me, cooking is also a way of giving something of yourself.

I am proud of where I come from. I love my home and my country, and I want to raise the name of Honduras and show who we Hondurans are. When I create a dish, I am inspired by my roots, by my family’s memories and by the creativity that has always been present in my life. I like experimenting with ingredients, techniques and ways of presenting food, seeking for each preparation to carry something of my identity.

I want to keep learning because, although I have gained knowledge and experience, I feel I still know nothing compared to everything I have left to discover. I am young, I am still getting to know myself and I have an enormous road ahead, professionally and personally. Today I am happy with where I am, but I am not settling. I have grown as a pastry chef and I have learned something from every person I have been able to talk with, work with or share a kitchen with.

Gastronomy is immense and can mean something different to each person. For me, it is my safe place. A kitchen is a space of trial and error: we make mistakes, we learn, we try again and, with perseverance, we can turn those mistakes into something extraordinary.

Being part of the Americas Young Chef Award means much more to me than a competition. It is the opportunity to show my talent, learn from other young chefs and take Honduras to new places. Of course I would love to win, but I want this experience to be, above all, a way to grow as a cook and as a person, to get to know other cultures and to show that Honduras has talent, creativity, products, stories and a gastronomy that deserves to be shared with the world. This is just the beginning of everything I still want to learn, create and share.

Because, in the end, a dish is my canvas.

My name is Nicolle Adriana Jiménez Jiménez. I am 22 years old and I was born in San Vito de Coto Brus on July 30, 2004. Cooking has always been present in my life: I grew up surrounded by it thanks to my mother and my grandmother, who have devoted themselves to cooking. However, it was in 2022, during my last year of high school, that I truly began to enter this world. One day my mother asked me why I did not pursue cooking, and that question led me to see in this profession the path I really wanted to follow.

In 2023 I decided to move to Heredia to follow my dream of dedicating myself to gastronomy, and I began my studies at Universidad Latina de Costa Rica. Since then, my university training has allowed me not only to gain knowledge, but also to discover new areas of gastronomy and to put my skills to the test.

In 2024 I began taking part in internal university competitions. My teammate Andrea Mena and I won first place, an experience that motivated me to keep growing and seeking new challenges. A year later, we had the opportunity to represent the university at the Feria Alimentaria competition in Guatemala, where we won third place.

This year I took on a new challenge: I took part in the Mayca Food Show as assistant to chef Rodrigo Vargas in the fine dining category. In addition, over these years I have collaborated in various university events, both in the production and in the execution of gastronomic activities. Each of these spaces has allowed me to develop new skills, learn to work as a team and face situations that have helped me grow professionally.

Today, one of my main goals is to do my professional internship in Spain. I believe it would be an opportunity to step out of my comfort zone, broaden my knowledge and grow professionally. My goal is to keep learning and gathering experiences that feed my passion for gastronomy and allow me to build the professional future I want.