Vietnam won the global chef silver medal for the first time

The Global Chefs Challenge 2026 final round takes place from May 16 to 19 in Newport city, Wales. Representatives of Vietnam include two chefs Trinh Tuan Dung and Le Dac Minh Quan (from the Saigon Professional Chefs Association – SPC) competing in the most prestigious category for professional chefs.

In the final result, the Vietnamese team scored 81,875 points, ranked 8th out of 15 teams and won the silver medal. According to the regulations of the World Chefs Association (Worldchefs), awards are awarded based on an absolute score framework instead of rankings. Teams scoring from 90 to 100 points will receive gold medals, from 80 to 89.99 points will receive silver medals, and from 70 to 79.99 points will receive bronze medals.

This is the first time Vietnam has a representative present and win a prize at the global final round of this competition. Previously, after more than two decades of organization, no Vietnamese team had advanced deep into the ranking finals.

The team with the highest score in this year’s competition is Italy (94,167 points), followed by Denmark and Singapore.

In the final round, each team, consisting of a main chef and an assistant, must prepare a 4-course menu (appetizer, two main courses, dessert) with a total of 12 international-standard meals in 7 hours.

With menu named Quintessence of Vietnamtwo Vietnamese chefs combined expensive ingredients (Norwegian tiger prawns, halibut fish, veal offal, caviar, Valrhona chocolate…) with a series of homeland specialties such as ST25 rice, Dak Lak macadamia nuts, Ly Son garlic, Phu Quoc fish sauce, and An Giang palm sugar. The menu also incorporates indigenous cooking techniques such as steaming pho noodles, rolling spring rolls and pouring banh xeo.

The team’s biggest obstacle during the 9 months of preparation was the expensive and scarce raw material costs in the domestic market. Due to not having access to large-sized halibut fish or veal organs (sweetbreads), chef Trinh Tuan Dung had to educate himself through videos from international experts to visualize the processing process.

During training sessions, the team used simulation methods: using plaice instead of halibut to practice filleting; Use chicken and pig liver to simulate calf organs; and replace premium chocolate with popular varieties.

Difficulties continue to challenge the team when entering real combat. The cold weather in England caused chef Trinh Tuan Dung to fall ill right before the exam day.

“That day’s test was only about 85% of the performance when practicing at home. Having to simulate expensive ingredients with popular ones before also created great pressure during actual operations,” said chef Trinh Tuan Dung. He added that the whole team tried very hard and applied improvisation skills to complete the exam and was proud of the results achieved.

Global Chefs Challenge is an international culinary competition held within the framework of the Worldchefs Congress. The competition brings together excellent chefs from around the world after a strict selection process from each region. Every year, hundreds of teams must compete in knockout competitions on continents to win 15 spots to the final round.

Before participating in Wales, the Vietnamese team qualified for the Asian qualifiers held in 2025. There, Chef Trinh Tuan Dung won the gold medal, making Vietnam and Singapore the region’s representatives competing on the global stage.