Monaco (Principato di Monaco) 3 April (LaPresse) - Aaron Thomas is the winner of the 7th Superyacht Chef Competition. Organized by the Yacht Club de Monaco’s training center, La Belle Classe Academy, in partnership with Bluewater, the event featured a top-level jury chaired by two-Michelin-star French chef Philippe Etchebest. He was joined by chef Carlo Cracco, an icon of Italian cuisine; three-Michelin-star chef Marcel Ravin; Jeeny Maltese, a presenter promoting Latin American cuisine; and restaurateur and TV presenter Tim Mälzer.
With the aim of showcasing a relatively little-known profession to the public, the culinary contest once again attracted a full house. With a dish of grilled lobster with bisque and asparagus–morel fricassée, followed by a dessert of mille-feuille with chocolate mousse and caramelized pineapple, Aaron Thomas of M/Y Canvas (33m), who grew up in London and has Indian heritage, won the competition. He competed in the final round against Ilija Gojkovic of M/Y Emocean (38m) and Alex Salimbene of M/Y Moka (50m). “I trained classically in college and then tried to travel the world. A few years ago, I decided to move into yachting and it has been great so far. I am incredibly happy. Ican’t thank everyone enough. It’s incredible,” said the chef.
The format of the Superyacht Chef Competition is short but intense, reflecting the realities of the profession. Just minutes before the start, a mystery ingredient is revealed to the chefs, who then have five minutes to come up with a recipe before the clock starts ticking. Every ingredient must be used or competitors are penalized for waste.
“When you run a restaurant, it is important not to waste products because it means losing money. On a boat it is the same — and even more important. When you go away for two or three weeks, you must organize your provisions very carefully and make sure nothing is wasted,” said chef Philippe Etchebest, who is also a Meilleur Ouvrier de France.
“The level of competition is very high, but the time available is extremely short. Forty-five minutes are incredibly challenging for chefs to express their personal touch in a dish. It’s very complicated,” added Cracco. “However, I also saw some very nice ideas from the contestants. Some of them approached the challenge in very different ways and created playful dishes with interesting twists.”The competition was tight, with nine competitors in total, including two representing the Yacht Club de Monaco flag — demonstrating the YCM community’s strong involvement in this event celebrating fine cuisine onboard.
“The motto of the Yacht Club de Monaco is ‘L’art de vivre la mer’ (the art of living the sea). Within that idea is also ‘l’art de vivre à la table’ — the art of dining well. When you are on board, meals are very important. We want to share this spirit and bring renowned chefs into contact with younger generations,” said YCM Director and General Secretary Bernard d’Alessandri. “Some of the chefs here today run restaurants with two or three Michelin stars around the world — in Germany, England and Italy, just to name a few. Our aim is to facilitate connections between generations and also among chefs who work onboard, because ultimately we are all part of the same family.”
Behind the scenes, the contest was orchestrated by Chef Philippe Joannès, Meilleur Ouvrier de France and YCM’s culinary consultant alongside YCM’s Events Chef Simon Ganache, supported by Frédéric Ramos, President of the Monaco Goût & Saveurs association.
Since opening in 2015, La Belle Classe Academy has been playing a key role in training future yachting professionals, offering a range of courses dedicated to the art of service onboard. With this in mind, and to promote gastronomy at sea, the Yacht Club de Monaco’s training center fully supports the Superyacht Chef Competition. This year, students from Monaco’s hotel and catering school were invited to take part and observe firsthand how these chefs work, discovering what happens behind the scenes of a profession where passion, rigor and creativity are required every day.
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Aaron Thomas crowned winner of the 7th Superyacht Chef Competition at the Yacht Club de Monaco
- Closeup of Superyacht Chef Competition banner
- Winner announcement
- Shots of winners with trophies
- Various shots of the competition during soundbites
- Philippe Etchebest, Chef and President of the Jury: [01:00:10] This chef on the boat is a very important person. Why? Because in the history a lot of rebellion on boats was because the the marines have bad food and it's true.
- Philippe Etchebest, Chef and President of the Jury: [01:00:36] When you have a restaurant, the economy is very difficult. You have not to waste products. It's very important because, of course, you lose money. On the boat, it's very important because when you go for two or three weeks, you have to organize very well your products each time. And you don't have to waste anything.
- Carlo Gracco, Chef and Member of the Jury: [01:00:55] The level of competition is very high, but the timing is very short.
- Carlo Gracco, Chef and Member of the Jury: [01:01:06] It's very complicated, but the level is very high. I noted also some idea, very nice. Some chefs different, start different and create a little bit more funny and very interesting.
- Aaron Thomas, Winner of Superyacht Chef Competition: [01:01:36] I'm super happy. I couldn't thank everyone enough, but it's incredible. Yeah, I grew up in London. My parents are from India, so it was a nice little thing. I trained classically in college. And then I did try to travel the world and decided to do yachting a few years ago and it's been great so far.
- Bernard D'Alessandri, YCM Director and General Secretary: [01:01:58] You know, the adage of the gastronomical is l'art de vivre la mer. And inside of this sentence, inside of the adage, you have l'arte vivre la table. When you are on board, the table and the food and the meat is very important. And we would like to transmit and we would to put in contact the old chef, the famous chef. You have the restaurant everywhere in the world now because we have people from... From England, from Italy, and we would like to put this senior chef in contact with the young generation of the chef on the board.
3 April 2026
