04/10/2026
PRESS RELEASE OCTOBER 2026
Over 400 chefs competed in the running of The International Emirates Salon Culinaire Salon Classes Competition 2026
The Emirates Culinary Guild would like to announce the successful running of the Emirates International Salon Culinaire (EISC) Salon Classes Competition 2026. The Salon this year was an exciting new format that was created during the challenging times that are being faced by the hospitality industry in the UAE, to ensure our chefs had the platform to shine.
The Salon classes was run over four months and saw a combination of static display classes and practical cookery classes which of course were the highlights. The venue was the International Centre of Culinary Arts Dubai (ICCA) and the modern professional kitchens and school facilities gave the competitors the very best venue to compete in.
The competition was endorsed by Worldchefs as a regional competition and a team of certified Worldchefs judges were on hand to adjudicate the proceedings.
The competition saw over 400 chef entries from the United Arab Emirates, competing in 23 classes across all disciplines of the Culinary arts, including practical cookery, static displays, Emirati cuisine, cake decorating, and showpiece categories.
Highlights were the new Hi tea class for Airport 1st class Lounges and Hotel Lobby lounges by Food Tech which brought together chefs and service teams. Once again, the Sounbula Mills Artisanal Bakery Arena was an excellent display of crafted bakery and pastries with excellent skills shown from the countries top bakers.
A new introduction was also the JM foods Beverage non alcoholic Cocktail challenge, which brought the barmen into the competition this year, JM foods also supported another important skill based class the Lamb Butchery class which put to task the butchers.
President of the Guild, Alan Orreal, added, "We are proud to have once again been able to put on the event, and we are grateful to the supporters of the guild and our committee and marshals and to the courage of the chefs and to the industry for their support and presence during the 4 days of EISC Salon Classes 2026. The competition was bigger than we could have hoped for, and we are excited for 2027 already," added Orreal.
Worldchefs President and Guild founding member and coordinator Dubai-based Andy Cuthbert added, "This year's competition was another sign of the growth of the culinary arts in the UAE; with the support of our partners we were able to give back to our community and keep our chefs focused and learning skills. The new categories were a fantastic addition to this year’s competition.
This year’s competition once again was powered by Foodverse, an end-to-end, app-based platform developed by Foodverse in collaboration with the International Centre for Culinary Arts, ICCA Dubai. From registrations to judging, the platform promises to bring greater transparency, efficiency, and credibility to the entire competition process. Speaking about the innovation, Sunjeh Raja, Managing Director of ICCA and the visionary behind Foodverse, said, “Foodverse is set to become a truly credible platform for chefs across the globe. Not only competitions, but it's set to empower the entire food industry and create meaningful opportunities for young chefs worldwide.”
Medal winners and champions came from across the Emirates with a total of 266 medals being awarded, Gold Medals 69, Silver Medals 87 and Bronze Medals 110, a great achievement for the young chefs.
The Winners of the Trophy’s this year were:
Best Cuisinier 2026: Roshan Pradeep Novatel & Ibis Deira
Young Chef of the Year 2026: Owen Rodes Vincent Movenpick Hotel JLT
Best Pastry chef 2026: Amila Iyan Pullman Deira City Centre
Sounbula Mills Champions 2026: The team from Arada H&E Chefs Sasidhar Dasari & Mulyatna Sardiono
The Food Tech Hi tea challenge: The team from EKFC Rajee Sathurappan &
Hari Krishnan Anilkumar
The JM Foods Non Alcoholic Cocktail challenge : Eshan Shamal Askin Yas Plaza Hotel
We thank all our partners that made this event possible and we are proud to be associated with: Sounbula Mills, Food Tech ,Taaza, Ronai, RAK Porcelain, chef’s palette, USMEF, JM Foods, The Deep Seafood Company, Ferneto, HK Gourmet, MIWE, FABE La Royale, Potatoes USA, Arla Pro, thank you to these great supporters of the hospitality industry.
