The Nice native Léa Vaultier qualified for the national final of Young Talented Chefs of Tomorrow

The 16th edition of the Young Talents Chefs of Tomorrow Competition continued its regional selection in Nice in early October. In the kitchens of the Jeanne and Paul Augier Hotel School, the seven candidates selected on file had to take on the theme “Zero Waste Objective” by preparing a dish for four people in 2.5 hours: pork cheeks, green Puy lentils and celeriac. A challenge that Léa Vaultier emerged victorious from, qualifying her for the national final on November 30 in Saint-Étienne.

Starting at 8 o’clock in the morning, Monday, October 5, the seven young chefs selected were busy at their workstations. Not a minute to lose in preparing their four plates, everything had to be ready on time to satisfy the three Michelin-starred chefs on the tasting jury as well as the event partners.

With a particularly technical theme around pork cheeks, green Puy lentils and celeriac, special attention was paid to the cooking of the meat and seasoning. For Selim M’Nasri, chef of the Michelin-starred restaurant l’Épicentre in Nice, and member of the tasting jury, the test was tricky: “it’s really not an obvious theme, it’s a ‘grandmother’s’ theme. What will make the difference is boldness, I like to see chefs who take risks.”

By their side during preparation, four other chefs observed them. Product handling, organization, mastery of kitchen utensils, in this competition nothing is left to chance. Half of the final score is given by the cooking jury, the other half by the tasting jury. To win, you have to be a complete chef.

Created in 2011 by Peggy Perrey, this competition is dedicated to young chefs under 26 years old, promoting “100% homemade” and the transmission of culinary knowledge. Each year, prestigious chef sponsors encourage candidates to defend innovative and responsible traditional cuisine. Here in Nice, it is Emmanuel Pilon, Chef of the Le Louis XV – Alain Ducasse restaurant in Monaco, who sponsors the competition.

Léa Vaultier wins

After 2.5 hours in the kitchen, it was time for tasting. Very quickly, the murmurs of the chefs between services suggested that a few plates stood out. Dishes number 5 and number 6 were highly praised, and showed superior mastery according to the chefs.

During the tasting, everything was taken into account, the taste, obviously, but also the temperature of the dish during service, plating, the choice of plate. In this test, everything is done so that young talents can express their creativity to the maximum.

After deliberation, it was finally Léa Vaultier, candidate number 6, who won. For her first competition of this type, the 22-year-old from Nice, recently integrated into the teams at the Chèvre d’Or restaurant, was delighted with the experience: “I’m really happy with what I proposed, it’s in line with what I wanted to do. I’m super motivated for the final, basically I was doing this without expecting much, so I’m delighted.”

Asked about the difficulty of the imposed theme, she told, with a smile, about her preparation: “I found out about the products to work with two months ago. I had never worked with pork cheeks before, it was great to learn how to enhance them, because it’s meat that is quite tough to begin with. That’s why I went with braising, with shredded meat, well seasoned, well hydrated, it was the best way to do it in my opinion. In the end it was a theme with rather classic products, the hardest part was bringing a touch of modernity.“

This success at the regional level automatically qualifies Léa for the national final on November 30 in Saint-Étienne in the kitchens of Geoffroy-Guichard stadium. She will meet the other regional winners there to, perhaps, become the “Young Talent Chef of Tomorrow 2026.” A title that would guarantee her, beyond the experience gained with the chefs and material rewards from partners, real professional recognition in the culinary world.