A hake soup for a starter, a cabbage and rice cannelloni with oven-baked mushrooms and a veal and beef jardinière for the main course, and an apple tart to finish off. This was the menu that gave Diogo Novais Pereira the title of Chef of the Year 2024.

This is the oldest national gastronomy competition. The Lamego multipurpose centre hosted the final of the 35th edition this Wednesday.

Diogo Novais Pereira, 33, from the Porinhos restaurant in Fafe, was the big winner. João Costa, from Euskalduna, and Jorge Bolito, from The Yeatman, took the remaining places on the podium.

"Winning this competition is a great thrill. Seeing my work recognised is incredible, after all this was a personal and professional goal. Ever since I started studying, I have followed the competition and now winning it is inexplicable", explained the chef in a statement.

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"I made a menu with products that I love and that I work with every day. All I did was try to respect them as much as possible", he continues. 

The three finalists of Chef of the Year 2024© João Beijinho  

Chef Diogo Novais Pereira's career began with an internship at DOP in Porto, and also at El Club Allard in Madrid, Spain. He then worked at the Casa Torta restaurant in Guimarães, Oficina in Porto, and at the My Story Hotel Rossio in Lisbon.

"The competition gets stronger every year. The six competitors who were in the running should feel happy. It was a very close competition, right up to the last moment, but the winner ended up being the most consistent competitor from the first to the last dish", said Louis Anjos, from Al Sud, one of the judges of this competition. 

António Bóia, from JNcQUOI, Luís Gaspar, from Sala de Corte, Andreia Moutinho and Paulo Pinto  and Jeferson Dias were also evaluating the competitors' dishes.

Browse the gallery to see some of the moments from the Chef of the Year 2024 competition.

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