Southern Institute of Technology (SIT) graduate and rising young culinary star, Sam Kissell, competed at the finals of the 2025 Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat competition last week in Sydney, bringing a haul of gold medals home.
The 20-year-old Southlander competed on 8th September against the regional finalists from New Zealand and Australia, winning gold medals for each of his courses – entrée, main and dessert.
This year’s outstanding results came from the Kiwi chefs; the overall winner was Auckland Chef, Emily Morgan, who also won three gold medals. Mr Kissell said it meant a lot; between the two of them, they brought home a total of six gold medals to New Zealand. He also appreciated having another New Zealand competitor there and spending time together over the few days in Sydney.
“It was great meeting Emily; she was really encouraging and gave me some great advice for competing as she had competed in the finals once before. I couldn’t be happier for her to take out the win; she was so deserving of it, and it was a privilege to compete alongside her, and get to know her.”
Mr Kissell acknowledged the last 12 months had been “pretty full-on, but it’s been great. It’s been quite a surprise … it’s been a really rewarding journey.”
Completing the New Zealand Certificate in Cookery (Level 4) at SIT last year, Mr Kissell entered his first culinary competition, the 2024 South Island Regional Cook-off of the Nestlé Golden Chef's Hat Award, where he won a bronze medal, and notably, was the first chef to win the ‘Most Innovative Use of Coffee’ award.
This year, “I felt good about the regionals,” he said, and won the South Island competition with his two dishes: a seared beef rump main with accompaniments, and a dessert of shortbread, lemon and white chocolate crémeux, poached rhubarb, oat and ginger crumb, and candied lemon zest.
Mr Kissell said “Once I’d competed in the regionals it built my confidence,” however, the pressure went up a notch for the Sydney finals, knowing he was up against more experienced young chefs. “It was pretty daunting… There were others in the finals who’d done it before.” Experienced competition Chef, Cam Davies of The Fat Duck, Te Anau, who had mentored Mr Kissell, showed him a breathing technique for managing stress, which had helped a bit. “When I was competing, I was able to block out the nerves.”
Mr Kissell’s gold-medal winning dishes in the competition final were: entrée of tofu and ricotta mousse, pickled oyster mushrooms, roasted mushrooms, toasted seaweed branches, toasted pistachios and caramelised onion broth; the main - sous vide lamb rump, honey glazed Dutch carrots, asparagus and kawakawa puree, glazed asparagus tips, petit shepherd’s pie, red wine jus; and dessert - lemon and white chocolate mousse with a rhubarb compote centre, rhubarb veil, oat shortbread, honey and ginger tuille, fresh raspberries, raspberry coulis and a rhubarb sabayon.
In their feedback, the judges said Mr Kissell’s floorwork was “impeccable”, referring to cleanliness in the kitchen, methods, and the different techniques he used, for example, using a cartouche when poaching rhubarb for his dessert, and when making broth for his entrée; the method involves using a piece of baking paper to keep items submerged when cooking, also helping with cooking the products evenly and making them tender.
“These are some of the little things they’re looking for; noting the professional practises I was showcasing, using the right equipment and techniques at the right times. They also really enjoyed my entrée, saying it was a strong dish, and my dessert had good flavours and textures, especially in the main component of the mousse.”
SIT supported Mr Kissell with the use of their training kitchens, providing the practice sessions and ingredients, and Glenn Stridiron, Programme Manager for Hospitality and Cookery had given his time to mentor Mr Kissell.
“SIT has been great; the tutors have a wealth of knowledge to share with us students and they want to see us succeed.” Mr Kissell remarked that the SIT facilities are kept to such a high standard, “having access to the SIT facilities and equipment has been crucial in preparing me for these competitions”.
“Glenn even gave up his own weekends to allow me to come into the training kitchens and do run-throughs of the competition, where I was able to get feedback on my dishes, cooking techniques and methods of working. I am extremely grateful for the ongoing support of SIT.”
“... I made a few mistakes while competing, but I knew how to recover [because of] the practices,” he explained. “Knowing how to adapt when things go wrong will definitely help me in my career.”
Mr Stridiron was delighted Mr Kissell’s progress, noting his meteoric trajectory in the competition has happened in the space of a year. “Sam has been outstanding; from being a student at SIT, then his first competition in the 2024 Golden Chef’s Hat, through to the 2025 finals, and hopefully again in the future,” he said.
“It has been an honour and a privilege to work with Sam on his journey. He is an inspiration to young (and older) chefs, due to his passion, commitment, professionalism and composure in the kitchen.”
After graduating with the NZ Diploma in Cookery (Advanced) Level 5, at SIT in June, Mr Kissell worked at a luxury outback resort in the Northern Territory, Australia. Since then, he has been offered a new position at Voyager Estate, a winery in Margaret River, Western Australia.
With about a week to recover from his competition schedule before moving to his new job, Mr Kissell was going to pack and catch up with friends and family. He had very proud and happy parents, as were his three siblings, saying, “I’ve had lots of hugs - my family have all been so encouraging.” There were no other chefs in Mr Kissell’s family, and he didn’t know where his cooking talent came from; although he admitted, “Dad doesn’t like cooking at all, but he’s quite good at it when he does it.”
Mr Kissell is eligible to return to the competition up until the age of 24 and he has definite plans to do so.