On September 18, the Grand Finale of Rising Chefs Challenge 2026, part of Flavors Vietnam 2026, took place at Saigontourist Hospitality College in Ho Chi Minh City.
Eleven young chefs entered the kitchen with 90 minutes to complete their final challenge. After a morning of competition, Nguyen Le Nhu Quynh was named Champion, with Cao Viet taking First Runner-up and Nguyen Quoc Trung Second Runner-up.
If the first round, “The Dish That Made You,” invited contestants to return to the hometown flavors and memories that shaped them, the Grand Finale posed a different question through “The Dish That Makes You”: From everything they have inherited, what would each chef choose to preserve, what would they change, and what kind of dish could express the chef they aspire to become?
90 Minutes To Tell Their Stories Through Food
Starting at 8 AM, the 11 finalists entered the kitchen one by one. Each had 90 minutes to prepare an appetizer and a main course, with mango revealed as the mystery ingredient that had to feature in their dishes.
More than a race against the clock, the final challenge asked each chef to transform their chosen stories, ingredients, and techniques into a complete culinary experience. Once cooking time was up, each contestant had 10 minutes to present their dishes and answer questions from the judging panel.
Joining the Top 11 at the Grand Finale were Chef Anaïs Ca Dao, Founder & Culinary Director of Yeshi and Bar Rơm and Culinary Director of Esta House; Chef Tran Hieu Trung, Founder & Head Chef of Lamai Garden; and Jimmy Pham, AM, Founder & Executive Chairman of KOTO.
The 11 finalists offered 11 different answers to the same brief. Familiar ingredients such as mackerel, river prawns, beef, cassava, rice crackers, and wild herbs were paired with new techniques and approaches. What they inherited was not simply recreated; it became material through which each chef could begin shaping a culinary language of their own.
Reflecting on the performances of the 11 young chefs, Chef Anaïs Ca Dao was impressed not only by their technical skills, but also by the way each contestant brought a personal story to the plate.
“What stood out to me was not just the technique. Every dish carried a different story, memory, and perspective. I really enjoyed listening to the contestants share their experiences and seeing how those stories came through in their food.”
Three Different Paths To The Podium
Nguyen Quoc Trung was named 2nd Runner-up.
His main course combined charcoal-grilled beef with cassava mashed with scallion fish sauce, grilled pickled luffa, and smoked wild-herb chimichurri. For his appetizer, Trung paired Tay Ninh-style salt-and-chili grilled river prawns with Cat mango chutney, water hyacinth stems, and pickled coconut flesh.
Trung shared: “My dish began with flavors that remind me of Tay Ninh. I wanted to bring familiar ingredients and flavors from my hometown into the dish in my own way, from cassava and wild herbs to local seasonings. I still don’t think today’s performance was completely where I wanted it to be. If I had another chance, I would focus more on the beef and make the dish feel more complete.”
1st Runner-up went to Cao Viet.
For his main course, Cao Viet paired lobster with banh canh, satay, sponge gourd, and crab paste. His appetizer brought together regional flavors including black sesame rice crackers, smoked beef, cham cheo, fresh herbs, mango, and ant salt.
Viet shared: “The dish I brought today is closely tied to my childhood and to Hue, where I was born and raised. Through banh canh and local ingredients, I wanted to express the idea that no matter where we go or where we work, we should always remember our roots, the memories we carry, and the culture of the place where we grew up.”
And the chef taking the top spot at Rising Chefs Challenge 2026 was Nguyen Le Nhu Quynh.
Quynh presented “Cold Rice With Plain Water” (Cơm Nguội Chan Nước Lã) as her main course, featuring salt-and-lime-marinated grilled mackerel, mackerel beurre vinaigrette, mango fish sauce, cold rice, dried fish, and chilled fish broth. Her appetizer, “Memories Along The Waterways” (Ký Ức Dọc Miền Sông Nước), combined clams, pickled ambarella, peanut sauce, and clam-and-fennel foam on sesame rice crackers.
From working at a street-side rice stall to entering the world of fine dining, Quynh’s culinary journey has taken her through very different kitchens. But when speaking about the chef she hopes to become, she returns to three ideas: freedom, depth, and a deeper understanding of Vietnamese ingredients.
Quynh shared: “When I heard the result, the first person I thought of was my mother. I just wanted to say, ‘Mom, I’m all grown up now.’ Looking ahead, I want to pursue freedom in cooking, to become a chef with depth and a genuine understanding of the nature of Vietnamese ingredients. I want to use those ingredients to create dishes with my own identity and bring Vietnamese cuisine closer to the world.”
The Grand Finale Was About More Than Three Winners
Before the top three prizes were announced, the audience also voted for the five Most-Loved Appetizers, awarded to Nhu Quynh, Cao Viet, Van Thien, Quoc Trung, and Minh Hieu. All 11 finalists also received certificates and gifts from the program and its partners.
Beyond the names that made it onto the podium, this year’s Grand Finale offered 11 different ways for young chefs to look at Vietnamese cuisine.
Not every dish needed to move far from its familiar form in order to feel new. Sometimes, the mark of a new generation lies in how a chef understands what has been passed down, then decides what should remain and what can be retold in a language of their own.
A New Generation Of Chefs Finds Its Own “Flavor”
Following its 2023 edition, Rising Chefs Challenge returned in 2026 under the theme “The Makers of Our Time.”
Co-organized by Vietcetera and Royal Arctika, the competition provides a platform for young chefs to demonstrate not only their technical skills, but also their food, stories, and perspectives to the wider F&B community.
From “The Dish That Made You” to “The Dish That Makes You,” this year’s journey posed two connected questions: What shaped a chef in the first place? And from that foundation, what kind of chef do they want to become?
Three names ultimately made it onto the podium, but “The Makers of Our Time” extends beyond the three winners. From the dishes that once nourished them to dishes that now carry their own signatures, the 11 young chefs offered different ways of looking at the same culinary heritage.
And before creating a “flavor of their time,” perhaps each chef must first discover the flavor that truly belongs to them.
Rising Chefs Challenge is part of Flavors Vietnam 2026. This year’s competition was co-organized with Royal Arctika, contributing to new experiences while celebrating and promoting Vietnam’s F&B culture.
Special thanks to the sponsors and partners of Flavors Rising Chefs Challenge 2026: Gold Sponsor: Royal Arctika; Trusted Partner: V Horeca, H Cookware, Lý Gia Viên; Official Ingredient Partner: Annam Group, Kamereo.
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