Macau-based chef wins Singaporean award of excellence

Macau-based Gunther Wolfsgruber, Executive Chef – Pastry at Galaxy Entertainment Group, won an award earlier this month at the World Gourmet Summit Awards of Excellence 2016 in Singapore, entitled “Pastry Chef of The Year (Regional).”
Wolfsgruber has had an extensive career as an executive pastry chef in Macau having held the role at the Grand Hyatt, MGM Macau – where he worked until January this year – and today at Galaxy.
“[The award] is unrelated to any of the properties,” Wolfsgruber explained to the Times. “It is an industry-wide award for the individual, that was decided by public nomination, industry recommendation and finally, a panel decision.”
“The award means a lot to me. It is recognition of my 22 years of experience working in this industry [and it means a lot] to be appreciated by your customers and your colleagues. It also serves as an inspiration point for the junior [chefs],” he said.
To win the award, Wolfsgruber beat Bryan Dimayuga of the Makati Shangri-La Manila, Giovanni Iurig of the JW Marriott Hotel in Bangkok and Yves Matthey of the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong. Gunther was the only chef nominated for an award from Macau, though there were numerous nominations from neighboring HKSAR.
The award, sponsored by kitchen appliances supplier KitchenAid, seeks “to recognize an individual who has exceptional talent in the pastry field.” The award’s description added that the winner was required to have displayed the ability to drive the consistency and quality in pastries, desserts or bakery products and must be directly involved in both daily operations and quality checks.
Gunther Wolfsgruber, who was additionally nominated for the award in 2014, told the Times that his affinity with the culinary arts possibly began back in his home country of Austria, where he grew up in a town close to Salzburg, or “the backdrop of The Sound of Music, if you like.”
He explained that one of his father’s friends owned several bakery shops and that had ignited his fascination in the art.
“I was also fascinated by Asia; [a place] that has a mystical feeling,” he added in reference to the nine years that he has spent in the MSAR.
Speaking on the rise of Western restaurants and cafes in Macau in recent years, Wolfsgruber said that variety “has changed through the years.”
“Actually, diversity in Macau is fascinating: we have the best of both worlds,” he added. “The Chinese [cuisine] dominates, of course, but there is also food from the smaller ethnic groups [here], the South Asian influence, like in Indian and Malay food, and the Portuguese influence from the colonial period.”
The award-winning chef also noted a general trend in the changing landscape of the Macau culinary scene. “As residents have grown wealthier with more disposable income, there has also been a growth in Western-style cafes and bars.”
“It’s encouraging to see my colleagues go out and start their own bars or cafes,” he remarked.
The recognition ceremony, formerly known as the Asian Gastronomic Awards of Excellence, recognized 31 other food and beverage and hospitality professionals, aside from Wolfsgruber, in this year’s ceremony held at One Farrer Hotel and Spa in Singapore.
According to a statement from the awards’ organizer A La Carte Productions, this year saw an overwhelming number of public nominations, indicating the recognition and acknowledgement of the hard work and outstanding service by industry professionals.
Accolades were presented under five main categories; chef awards, wine awards, industry awards, restaurant and service awards, and lifestyle awards. This year also featured new awards including specialized ones for Asian and Western cuisines.
Peter Knipp, the CEO of the group which owns awards’ organizer A La Carte Productions, said at the ceremony, “We congratulate our winners, who are exemplary in raising the standards of excellence in the F&B [food and beverage] and hospitality industries in Singapore and around the region. As the number of our home-grown talents progresses each year, we continue to focus on capability development and productivity enhancement to promote our home-grown talents and push them towards greater excellence.”
The World Gourmet Summit Awards of Excellence was inaugurated in 2001 with the aim of acknowledging the efforts of key players in the food and beverage industry who deliver the best dining experience and products to their guests.
The awards hope to motivate talented individuals in the industry to excel in the culinary profession and promote the appreciation of dining across Southeast Asia. Daniel Beitler