SINGAPORE — The future of Singapore’s feted culinary scene looks bright in the hands of its young chefs - if what we’ve seen at the South-east Asia leg of the inaugural S.Pellegrino search for the world’s best young chef is anything to go by.

Against some tough competition, chefs in Singapore have secured five out of the 10 places: They are Andrea De Paola, sous chef with &SONS Bacaro; Elaine Koh, chef de partie with Jaan; Guo Sen Chua, chef de partie with Sky on 57; Chef Immanuel Tee of Immanuel French Kitchen; and Kirk Westaway, sous chef at Jaan.

The other five finalists from around the region are Chef Anahita Dhondy (India) of Soda Bottle Opener Wala; Chef Angshuman Adhikari (India) of Diya, The Leela Gurgaon; Chef Dhruv Oberoi (India) of Olive Bar and Kitchen; Sous Chef Patrick Morris (Thailand) of Gecko’s Italian Restaurant; and Chef Ruby Febrianty Soekarta (Indonesia) of Bisou Boulangerie et Patisserie.

Leading international educational and training centre for Italian Cuisine ALMA (http://www.alma.scuolacucina.it) made its selection of the 10 semi-finalists for each region according to “five Golden Rules”, namely, ingredients, skills, genius, beauty and message. The last is based on how successful the chef is in communicating a clear message through his or her personal vision and final work.

There were 3,620 applications from 191 countries across 20 geographic regions, but one of the most inspiring aspects of this shortlist is the competition’s level playing field — the candidates need only to be under 30 years old and have at least a year of experience working as a chef, sous chef or chef de partie.

“It was a very hard task to select just so few finalists from so many interesting proposals,” said Andrea Sinigaglia, ALMA’s general manager. “Having the opportunity to analyse original recipes created by young chefs from all over the world was a thrilling experience and an incredible demonstration of just how much talent and love for fine food it is possible to find everywhere in the globe.”

Singapore will be the official host for the Southeast Asia semi-finals where 10 shortlisted chefs will partake in a cook-off featuring their signature dishes on Feb 5 at At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy. These include a duo of pigeon with variations of Granny Smith apple from Chua, and Tee’s chosen serving of kakuni pork belly with duxelle, onsen egg and potato foam. The panel of judges - which includes top chefs Andre Chiang, Ryan Clift and Gaggan Anand - will pick the winner.

The winning chef from this region will go up against 19 other finalists in the grand finals, which will be held during the Expo Milano 2015 in June. Each chef will be mentored by a celebrated culinary artist in this final phase, who will guide them on their quest to become the S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2015. The grand winner will be determined by a jury of seven renowned international chefs - Gaston Acurio, Yannick Alleno, Massimo Bottura, Margot Janse, Yoshihiro Narisawa, Eric Ripert and Joan Roca.

"It's the person not the dish (that makes a good chef)," said Clift, who had this bit of advice for the young chefs: "Don't play it safe, don't be boring ... and have fun. It's not always about winning."

According to a statement released today (Jan 30), this unique initiative reaffirms the renowned brand’s commitment to enhancing fine dining culture all over the world and to promoting emerging talents.