Former engineering student lands Top 10 spot at Young Chef Olympiad in India

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February 23, 2026 | 12:01pm

MANILA, Philippines — Graduating Culinary Arts Management student Jomari Bernardo from De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde’s School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institution Management represented the Philippines at the recently concluded 12th International Young Chef Olympiad (YCO) held in India and made it to the Top 10 circle.

The global student chef competition that showcases the culinary skills of some of the best young chefs in the world, the 12th International Young Chef Olympiad has been organized annually by the International Institute of Hotel Management (IIHM) since 2015. It was founded by Padmashri Chef Sanjeev Kapoor, who once again welcomed participants and oversaw competitions as principal judge and mentor of IIHM.

Held in India and themed "Preserving the World’s Global Culinary Heritage Through AI," this year’s competition drew 40 participants from different parts of the world to compete for the championship.     

In the first round, the Philippines’ sole representative Jomari Bernardo flew to Goa and faced off against aspiring chefs from host country India, Jordan, Nepal, Portugal, Sweden, Timor Leste, Uganda, and Uzbekistan. Contenders from other nations locked horns in the cities of Bangalore, Hyderabad, Delhi, and Pune.

Each participant prepared a fish dish and a vegan dessert for the first round, which saw Bernardo whipping up Filipino-inspired specialty Rellenong Bhetki (reverse-barramundi roulade with sweet potato-carrot puree, spinach sauce, fennel, and grape salad). It was paired with Maruya (vegan deep fried banana bread with mocha mousse, orange-lemon reduction, and chocolate soil).

After the preliminaries, the up-and-coming chefs were required to utilize a whole deboned chicken and invent a dessert using strudel dough. Bernardo gamely put together his chicken two ways recipe, Roulade and Pan-seared Chicken Breast with Creamy Polenta, Roasted Eggplant Puree and Basil Oil, for the main course. For the confection, he prepared Pistachio Strudel with Mascarpone Mousse and Lemon Citrus Sauce.

Only 10 countries reached the grand finals held in Kolkata.

Emerging as this year’s grand champion was Albania’s Enri Cuedari, with England’s Dominic Thomas Grundy placing first runner-up and Sri Lanka’s Vidanagamage Rumira Reshan Pyasiri taking second runner-up honors. The Plate Trophy went to France’s Maelyss Helene Parrot, while winning the Dr. Suborno Bose Challenge were Timor-Leste’s Melouirudi Leki-bere Da Cunha and Uzbekistan’s Ozodbek Odilov.

The Philippines’ Jomari Bernardo may not have won the grand prize, but he represented the country well and proudly made it to the YCO 2026 Top 10, alongside the three big winners (Albania, England, and Sri Lanka), as well as India’s Kotamsetti Satya Teja, Sweden’s Georgios Aidinis, Switzerland’s Anaya Madaan, Nepal’s Rohan Chettri, Canada’s Emma Gisele Biro, and Malaysia’s Aavie Ng Shi Chuan.  

“From the preparation stages in developing the dishes last December 2025 to the continuous daily practices during the whole month of January, the school has been very supportive in providing Jomari with insightful and expert chefs as guides and coaches and the necessary resources to create their ideal dishes,” shared competition manager chef Elijah Coronado.

The Benildean contender was mentored by DLS-CSB faculty member Chef Dean Gabriel Ng Tio, who trained under a one-Michelin-starred restaurant in Italy and had various industry experiences from Monde Nissin, Ferrero Philippines, Society’s Daily Bread Bakery & Bakeshop, and Legazpi Four Seasons Restaurant.

Bernardo, a former Civil Engineering student who decided to pursue his passion for culinary arts, recently finished his practicum at the Australian-inspired brunch place Maker and Made BGC before joining the cooking showdown.

He was chosen from a pool of Benildean students after a kitchen test; a mini competition, which measured the applicants’ competency in technical cooking skills and a panel interview.

RELATED: Filipino chef wins Asian pasta championship in Malaysia