How did Czech cook teams fare at IKA 2020?
The 8th IKA Culinary Olympics 2020 took place in Stuttgart in mid-February. Plentiful participation counted up to 2000 chefs from 59 countries of the whole world.
Almost 4 years of really hard preparations, expensive lot neither of drudgery and honest work nor financial and material aspect. Resulting all together in the important milestone for each contestant.
Petr Svejkovský, as well as the whole Premium Gastro team, is aware of the situation difficulty. That is why they are supporting promising Czech teams and standing all the time behind them.
“It is important to support contemporary Czech gastronomy and move it constantly further. Anyone, who participates in the contest, really dedicates a lot from hisself to it. It should be noted also, that everybody does it completely voluntarily and selflessly in the spare time. This is, in my opinion, important thing to appreciate. It may not seem obvious at first sight, but it is good to realize, that for Czech cook team members it is not just a few days of stress in competition, but everyday hard work. And Premium Gastro is here to make their way easy in area we understand and are specialists, ”adds Petr.
JUNIOR NATIONAL TEAM AKC CR
As the team manager Marek Svoboda says, the goal was to return the Junior Teamto higher scoring positions and above all to bring the Czech Republic the winning medals. After less successful results from the previous Olympics in 2016, this year they finally really succeeded. Why? There were a real talents in the youth team. “A big role was played by the presentation of the team captain Vojtěch Petržela and of course the appearance of dishes, a combination of aromas and a varied tastes. The most challenging for the team was the Restaurant of Nations category, where a warm three-course menu for 60 visitors was served. The judges evaluated a number of criteria, including the yield of raw materials or adherence to hygiene during preparation, ”adds Marek behind the scenes.
IKA Buffet - bronze medal
Restaurant of Nations - silver medal
Individual Live Carving - gold medal for Vojtěch Petržela and overall 3rd place in the world
NATIONAL TEAM AKC CR
The team of “adults” delivered excellent results too, although their ambitions were originally a little higher. The team captain Tomáš Popp admits the group's disappointment: “it turned out to be important for us to train in a kitchen similar to the Olympics. But these are the details that we need to fine-tune and play. We have made mistakes that cannot happen at that level. However, the jury appreciated the teamwork and although there is a room for improvement in desserts, for example, they did really well.
Restaurant of Nations - silver medal
Chefs Table - bronze medal
Benefits of cooperation between AKC CR and Premium Gastro
There is a close connection between Premium Gastro and the Junior and National Team. In addition to support by top-quality products from leading brands such as Figgjo, Crucial Detail, La Tavola, or 100% Chef, which together weighted more than hundreds of kilos, this collaboration has also several times pushed the development of designers pieces, for this ocassion represented by NAÏF products designed by artist and designer Tibor Mužík from Industry studio. Tibor actively pursue the intention of the final presentation of individual contest dishes, thereby directing and pushing the limits of the possibilities of his own technological processes. This year's work was materialized into truly unique design achievements for both teams, with one product far superior to the other outstanding pieces. It is a timeless tray NAÏF concrete pedestal, which was created specifically for the Junior National Team. How the limited edition was made and how you can support Czech gastronomy? You can find out here.
Nestlé Culinary Team
The first participation in the Community Catering category played a motivational and inspirational role for the whole team. In addition to a jury diploma, they also dare learn lessons for participating in the World Culinary Cup 2022 in Luxembourg. Words of Jiří Středa speak for themselves: “I was pleased with the overall evaluation of the jury because it positively evaluated the interplay and performance of our team at the world competition premiere. I am proud of all the members.”
InterGast Culinary Team
This year's historically second team participation, consisting of Radek David, team captain, Lukáš Paluska, team manager, Lukáš Skála, Tomáš Frištenský, Silvie Sulanská and Tomáš Horák, was specifically related to the category of regional teams. The members won the silver medal and finished 9th place out of 30 registered cooking groups.