Top Apprentice team wins the Amuse Bouche Award for Innovation

7 March 2019

Top Apprentice team from the Grand Hotel Wien wins the Innovation Award powered by Diversey at this year’s Amuse Bouche competition

Apprentices from the Grand Hotel Wien Lukas Horch (Service) and Kevin Stummer (Kitchen) scooped the Innovation Award for “Most Innovative Implementation of the Amuse Bouche Final Menu 2018” at the “11^th Top Apprentice Competition”, in a ceremony held at ARCOTEL Wimberger in Vienna.

Last week, over 600 renowned representatives from the tourism industry shone a well-deserved spotlight on the rising stars of the culinary world at the 2018 Amuse Bouche awards ceremony, honouring their accomplishments during the “11th Top Apprentice Competition”: The recently revamped ballroom at the ARCOTEL Wimberger hotel in Vienna once again played host to this remarkable initiative for apprentices working at high-end Viennese hotels.

“Modern, young, dynamic”: those were the requirements set by Amuse Bouche in the execution and presentation of a four-course menu plus digestif, as well as the staging of live acts with the taste of something different. Amuse Bouche was particularly impressed by the shumai in shitake dashi, the autumn salad ‒ a highlight thanks to their very own yuzu dressing ‒ the sous-vide duck and a deconstructed “Grießflammeri” (semolina pudding) to round off the meal.

Service scored highly with the presentation of the tomato soup, which came in a coffee siphon as “sui gyoza tomato essence”; butter set artistically on decorative, hygienic stones; and a digestif cocktail called “Deep Autumn” which reflected the season with warm red and brown hues that flowed into one another.

Director General Horst Mayer: I am thrilled that both winners have, through their wonderful accomplishments, demonstrated the excellent training and opportunities afforded by the Grand Hotel Wien to its apprentices, and the commitment shown by our talented young staff.

F&B Director Siegfried Pucher and Executive Chef Jürgen Lengauer are extremely proud of their Top Apprentices, who shone with their creative and brilliantly executed menu that traversed the globe from Europe to Asia in both flavour and appearance. Director of Human Resources Renata Baskovec praised the competition in the DACH region as a fantastic way to support apprentices at the highest echelons. She is particularly proud of the creativity demonstrated by the Top Apprentices over the course of the month-long contest, and how they grew and developed as young professionals.