Chef of the Year & Waiter of the Year
On Sunday, March 22, six professional chefs will take to the kitchen at Foodexpo to compete for one of the most prestigious titles in the culinary world: Chef of the Year. They will be joined by six leading service talents, who will showcase their skills in another honorable competition: Waiter of the Year.
The six chef finalists have 6 hours and 30 minutes to create three-course menus of exceptional quality
The dishes are served to a panel of specially invited guests as well as a star-studded jury. The judges evaluate the participants’ dishes based on a range of criteria, including presentation and taste, and the winner is the contestant who achieves the highest overall score.
In the Waiter of the Year competition, each of the six waiter finalists is paired with randomly selected chefs from the Chef of the Year contest. The waiters’ performances are also assessed according to a variety of criteria.
The competitions are free to observe and are organized by the industry association HORESTA in collaboration with 3F.
The finalists for Chef of the Year and Waiter of the Year 2026
Chef of the Year 2026
Daniel Kruse
Det Røde Pakhus, Rønne
Lucas Nielsen
Restaurant TreeTop, Vejle
Lukas Grøntved
Dune Dining, Hjørring
Magnus Carlsen
Alchemist, København
Martin Önnerth
Kold College, Odense
Michael Nørtoft
Restaurant Ti Trin Ned, Fredericia
Waiter of the Year 2026
Emil Pandrup
Restaurant Calma, København
Helle Lieffroy
Restaurant Lieffroy, Nyborg
Henrik Lindegaard
Lena Hahn Atzen
Marc Thejl Hansen
Schackenborg Slot & Slotskro, Tønder
Oskar Mathiassen
