S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 is Mitch Lienhard

Mitch Lienhard. Never heard of him? Well, you will. The American young gun took the gong for S.Pellegrino Young Chef 2016 at the live cook-off Grand Finale gala in Milan on Saturday night.

Chosen from over 3000 applicants, Lienhard beat 20 finalists, including Leslie Hottiaux from New Zealand who was mentored by Peter Gilmore. "It was crazy, today was such a hard competition," Lienhard says, praising fellow super-finalists Shintaro Awa from France and David Andres.

The narrative of the winning dish of roasted duck with spiced orange and yam was a reminder of the chef's home state of Michigan and the smells of burning leaves and maple. It won the jury for its technique and flavour.

"His broth was amazing," says Gaggan Anand from Thailand, one of the seven sages who judged the competition, along with global heavyweight chefs Elena Arzak (Spain), Mauro Colagreco (France), Carlo Cracco (Italy), Wylie Dufresne (US), David Higgs (South Africa) and Roberta Sudbrack (Brazil).

Lienhard's mentor, World's Best Female Chef Dominique Crenn, was rapt. "We came here to win," she said.

Next year Melbourne will host the World's 50 Best Restaurants awards at the Royal Exhibition Building on Saturday, April 5 2017. The Worlds 50 Best is streamed on theworlds50best.com & www.finedininglovers.com