'The most beneficial thing I did in my career'

At precisely 7pm the night before the unveiling of The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2024, seven chefs came together at Don’s Prime in the Fontainebleau Resort and Casino to serve a dinner imbued with clever references to the glittering casinos that dot the Las Vegas Strip. Brian Canlis, co-owner of Seattle’s legendary, multi-generational Canlis, played host.

The night began with chef Daniel Garwood (Acru) and his grilled Blue Point oysters with spice bark oil, quivering with seaweed jelly and an oyster emulsion. Real oysters were set inside cradle-sized platters that resembled silver oysters, the effect mimicking that of a Salvador Dali painting, but more edible. Servers also dispensed platters of wonton shell tartlets, filled with caramelized cream, turnip, and topped with a perfect quenelle of glittering Calvisius Siberian Royal Caviar.

As we clutched glasses of bubbles paired with Garwood’s courses and found our seats, marked with decks of cards calligraphed with our names, chef Chintan Pandya (Unapologetic Foods), instructed us to wrap sesame leaves around his prawn mousse, dotted with red and black emulsions of ‘hari chutney’ and ‘namak para’ (below).

Chef Charlie Mitchell (Clover Hill) took the words ‘royal’ and ‘flush’ literally to the point of cleverness. His three tarts were filled with Hokkaido scallops, BBQ prawns, and marinated salmon with collard greens. “Food that was once flushed back to the ocean, now seen as royal,” he said.

Next up, chef Emma Bengtsson (Aquavit) made two dices for her course, a smoked celeriac mousse with black truffle and a white asparagus tartare with black garlic puree. “I am combining my pastry and savory skills. Making two white dice and together they’ll create the number seven,” she said.

Canlis Executive Chef Aisha Ibrahim’s tripartite course, which came next, took my breath away. “It is a vibrant final savory course centered around chicken ‘piaparan’ with a scallop and palapa mousse, piaparan broth with lightly smoked halibut, and a special Dungeness crab and palapa rice,” said Ibrahim of the dish.

For dessert Eunji Lee created a Double Diamond (above), one made with a toasted brown rice mousse, pecan, and caramel, the signature dessert at her ‘pastry boutique’ Lysée, the other with coconut mousse, a pineapple-Thai basil compote with calamansi cream, and rosé Champagne gelée.

For the final course of the night, servers presented diners with pearlescent spoons and dollops of caviar, to be consumed with the poker chips Mitchell Lienhard (Dinex’s One Madison) fashioned from brown butter caramel, coffee ganache, and gianduja.

What was apparent throughout the night was a collaborative ethos as the seven chefs worked together to produce a casino-themed dinner of the highest caliber. The majority of chefs in the room were alumni of another collaborative experience, the S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy Competition. So I took the opportunity to ask the chefs who have participated in the Competition, which culminates with a Grand Finale every two years in Milan, why young chefs should apply for the 2024-25 edition, applications for which close on 19 June 2024.