Meet the Victorian Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year finalists

• Meet the six NSW finalists

The Age Good Food Guide returns this year in all its glory with hats, scores and awards, including Chef of the Year and Restaurant of the Year.

One of the most influential awards in the Guide's 40-plus-year history has been the Young Chef of the Year Award. Today we reveal this year's six finalists.

Much has been said about the toll COVID inflicted upon the hospitality industry, but the more than 40 award applications from chefs in their 20s revealed only passion, driving ambition and game-changing plans for the future. It was incredible to glimpse this proof that our dining scene has even more exciting heights to hit in the hands of young talent such as this.

The Age Good Food Guide editor, Roslyn Grundy, interviewed the six finalists with a panel of industry stars: Guy Grossi (Grossi Florentino), Philippa Sibley (Hero) and Adam D'Sylva (Coda, Tonka).

The winner will be announced on November 14 at The Age Good Food Guide awards.

Buy the Guide and read all about all the winners on November 15.

–Ardyn Bernoth, editor, Good Food

Ronith Arlikatti

A trail of first-class restaurants follows the name of Ronith Arlikatti: Bangkok's Gaggan, Lake House, Amaru. Not yet in his 30s, Arlikatti has already developed strong ideas about the style of cooking he strives for, a balance between complex techniques to coax the most from ingredients, but also knowing when to leave well alone.

The Indian-born chef also shows curiosity, recently leaving a job at Sunda to get a closer look at hotel dining in Australia at the Park Hyatt's restaurant, Radii. He's also started exploring the enormous culinary range of his home country and imagining how it might look in a "fun dining" restaurant of his own some day.

Favourite restaurant in Melbourne right now?

Aru. I used to work with chef Khanh [Nguyen] and he's an amazing guy. I've been there four times and I think the dry-aged duck is my favourite dish.

What's your go-to cocktail order?

An Old Fashioned.

What is your weapon of choice in the kitchen?

A yanagiba [long, slender] knife. It's a slicing knife for sushi, so it's also good for carving meats, slicing fish and, sometimes, chopping herbs.

The ingredient you couldn't live without?

Butter.

The most overrated ingredient or dish?

Truffles. There are many other ingredients with more umami.

A piece of cooking advice from earlier in your life that you still use?

Taste at every step of your cooking, even from raw to cooked. Always taste.

Nicholas Deligiannis

This 28-year-old did his apprenticeship at Jacques Reymond Restaurant (and then Bistro Gitan) before flying north, like so many young chefs, to see what London's restaurants could teach him. Back in Victoria, gigs in Melbourne and on the Mornington Peninsula culminated last year in a head chef role at Audrey's, the seafood-focused upscale quarter of the revamped Continental Sorrento.

Despite his age, Deligiannis is under no illusions about the extreme weather that's reshaping the produce chefs have access to and what that means for menus of the future: simpler, more humble cooking is on the way.

What condiment makes everything better?

It has to be red Tabasco, the OG. It's got a lot of spice, it's got a lot of acidity. It's the best.

Your favourite midnight snack?

A cheese toastie, hands down. Everyone needs a Breville sandwich maker at home. The secret to a good cheese toastie, of course, is Tabasco.

Favourite restaurant in Melbourne right now?

Embla. I've been there over a dozen times, and it's always a great eat.

What's your go-to cocktail order?

A negroni. I always start with a negroni and six oysters when I go out for dinner. I'm usually a classic man but I won't shy away from trying a different spin on a negroni.

What is your weapon of choice in the kitchen?

Nowadays with so many flowers and herbs around [at Audrey's] it has to be little tweezers. But you can't beat a chef's knife.

The ingredient you couldn't live without?

Salted cod roe paste to make taramasalata.

The most overrated ingredient or dish?

The most overrated ingredient has to be saffron. I agree that there are great ways to use it, but not for me. There's a world full of spices out there. I'm a big fan of sumac and cumin.

Oliver Garrioch

Hopping around venues in Brisbane, including Stokehouse Q, and growing up with two chef parents has imparted Oliver Garrioch, 26, with more than a few lessons in flavour, balance and technique.

The chef de partie at Cutler & Co in Fitzroy counts Gerard's Bistro in Brisbane among his career highlights, fuelling a passion for the bold flavours and generosity of Middle Eastern cooking. Apart from honing his own culinary style, right now he's focused on developing skills in kitchen management to be able to take on more leadership roles.

What condiment makes everything better?

I'd say toum, which is a whipped garlic paste from the Middle East. It goes on everything, from toast to flatbreads to chicken to steaks.

Your favourite midnight snack?

The humble Maccas cheeseburger is a pretty common choice for me.

Favourite restaurant in Melbourne right now?

Embla. It's consistent and super tasty, the vibes are super amazing, it's chill, but they deliver an amazing product.

What's your go-to cocktail order?

A Japanese Slipper at Above Board. It's a mix of Midori, Cointreau and lemon juice.

What is your weapon of choice in the kitchen?

The palette knife. It's super useful, super diverse, whether it be for tasting or tidying up mistakes or just for plating.

The ingredient you couldn't live without?

Chilli. It adds so much flavour and colour to a dish and it's so versatile, whether it be fried or dried or flaked or grilled.

A piece of cooking advice from earlier in your life that you still use?

Having a sense of urgency, whether you're prepping or trying to plate up or clean down your section or mopping the floor.

Saavni Krishnan

Three years at one of Australia's premier dining destinations, Fred's in Sydney, is a training ground many young chefs would envy. For Saavni Krishnan, it was where she learned that humble ingredients could be elevated to something extraordinary with the right skill and respect for produce.

The remainder of 28-year-old Krishnan's CV is similarly impressive: Riley Street Garage, in Woolloomooloo, and now Brunswick East's Etta, where she works alongside one of the industry's most exciting rising stars in Rosheen Kaul.

A series of pop-up dinners exploring Indian flavours, Saadi, which she does with husband Sriram Aditya Suresh, is the best way to get inside Krishnan's head.

What condiment makes everything better?

I love soy sauce. You can add it to any braises or even to simple Indian curries and it makes a lot of difference. Just a tad! Dijon mustard is my other favourite. I put it in practically all my salad dressings.

Your favourite midnight snack?

Simple instant noodles. I like Shin Ramyun, it's simple and spicy.

Favourite restaurant in Melbourne right now?

Manze. I love that food, it resonates with me and my food. It's stuff that I would eat at home. I also like the way Nagesh [Seethiah, chef-owner] works with food, and the cooking methods he uses. There's lots of Indian spice.

What is your weapon of choice in the kitchen?

I would say my scissors because I can open anything with them. I can even use them to butcher a chicken if I want to.

The ingredient you couldn't live without?

Salt.

The most overrated ingredient or dish?

Caviar. I love it, but everyone puts it on everything. I know it's a luxurious ingredient, but it's just overrated.

A piece of cooking advice from earlier in your life that you still use?

My mum told me not to over-stir the pot, just let it be. Let the heat and the fire do whatever it has to do, and let the cooking take its course. And don't fiddle with food too much.

Sriram Aditya Suresh

Neighbourhood Wine. Alberto's Lounge. Mimi's. If there's an It restaurant in Sydney or Melbourne, chances are Sriram Aditya Suresh has been inside its kitchen. The 30-year-old senior sous chef has built an impressive CV in Australia of self-assured restaurants that locals love to eat in, a reflection of his own taste for simple things done well.

He says he's not afraid to strip back menus to deal with Australia's twin crises of staff shortages and extreme weather. But he is also excited to continue carving out time for a pop-up series, Saadi, run with wife Saavni Krishnan, to showcase the flavours he grew up with.

What condiment makes everything better?

Salt, olive oil, lemon juice. You can't really hide behind any of those three ingredients.

What's a dish you never want to eat again?

Offal. I ate pig brains a couple of years ago and I hated it. I don't want to put that in my mouth ever again.

Favourite restaurant in Melbourne right now?

Manze in North Melbourne. The chef does Mauritian food, which is really close to the food I grew up eating. I just love the flavours and the combination of the setting.

Recently, I went to Avani Wines and had a lunch by [pop-up restaurant] Biji Dining. That was really great, too.

What's your go-to cocktail order?

A gin and tonic, with Beefeater gin, nothing fancy. Or a Long Island Iced Tea.

What is your weapon of choice in the kitchen?

Chef's knife. I can do a lot with just a chef's knife. People have like 15 knives. I have two knives. My chef's knife and a boning knife.

The ingredient you couldn't live without?

Rice. Coming from India and especially south India, it's really near and dear to me. I don't really cook with rice a lot in the restaurant, but a good bowl of rice is the best thing and I can't do without it.

A piece of cooking advice from earlier in your life that you still use?

Be clean, be organised. You can't work in a mess. If you work in a mess, you produce mess.

Cameron Tay-Yap

A deep thinker and considered chef, Cameron Tay-Yap, head chef at Amaru in Armadale, is all the more remarkable for not yet having reached his 26th birthday. Staging in kitchens such as Alinea in Chicago and Core by Clare Smyth (London), as well as Melbourne's own Attica, have certainly left their mark.

As he looks ahead to work-life balance when starting a family, how to nurture a team and continuing to deliver delight to diners, it's clear that operating with excellence runs through Tay-Yap's veins.

What condiment makes everything better?

XO sauce. I also really like Ronin chilli oil at the moment. And I have unhealthy amounts of sweet chilli sauce with my dinner.

Your favourite midnight snack?

I probably won't cook for myself after I finish work. I often find myself down at Seafood Street or Supper Inn getting XO pipis with Chinese doughnuts.

Favourite restaurant in Melbourne right now?

It really depends on what mood I'm in, but I always love Tipo 00 and Osteria Ilaria. I really like Carlton Wine Room and Embla, too. And I often have a very nice time at Etta.

The ingredient you couldn't live without?

I really like citrus, especially in Australia, where there's so many different types, like finger lime, desert lime and sunrise lime, which I've been using a lot of recently. I enjoy the bitterness and sweetness of that. It's very similar to the flavour of blood limes and calamansi. I tried playing around with Buddha's hand recently too.

The most overrated ingredient or dish?

Smashed avocado on toast. Please don't hate me, but it's pretty easy to make at home. When I go out to a cafe and see how expensive it is, it makes me want to cry, especially at the moment when avocados are so cheap.

A piece of cooking advice from earlier in your life that you still use?

I guess it's lots of moments, rather than one piece of advice. One was being sat down by my head chef and being told she expects better. I always hear that in my head and use it to continuously push myself.

The hats are back!

The Good Food Guide 2023 magazine, with more than 300 independent reviews of the best restaurants in Victoria, is on sale from November 15, $9.95. Available from newsagents, supermarkets or pre-order at thestore.com.au/gfg