The UAE chapter's Dilmah Real High Tea challenge ended in Gold, with 4 winners moving ahead to the Global Challenge to be held in May 2015 in Colombo. Teams from Radisson Blu Hotel Dubai Deira Creek and Shangri La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa - Oman walked away with the highest honours of the event held at the International Centre for Culinary Arts (ICCA)Dubai.

This year twelve teams from leading hospitality venues including the Shangri-La, Radisson Blu, Jumeirah Beach Hotel, Dusit Thani, Grand Millennium and Barr Al Jissah vied for the coveted Gold prize as they presented their take on a contemporary Real High Tea. The Challenge began in 2007 as an exploration of a contemporary high tea. It has travelled across continents, starting in Colombo, Sri Lanka and continuing through Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, UAE, Netherlands, Chile, Thailand, Hong Kong, Macau and England.

Sunjeh Raja, Director of the International Centre for Culinary Arts said, “Dilmah is a leading global brand and we are honoured that they chose our venue to host this exciting challenge. We were inspired by the amount of preparation and dedication that went into each contestant’s entry, making for a highly competitive yet fun experience. The Emirates Culinary Guild and the World Association of Chefs Societies, both solid supporters of our centre, were on hand to help judge the winning entries. We look forward to hosting many more events of this calibre, as a means of exposing our students to the best of the best.”

Congratulations to Alpesh Dias & Sunil Kumar of Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa & Lloyd Aleta & Dammika Herath of Radisson Blu Dubai Deira Creek who took home gold on the day. All Gold winners in the contest qualify for the Global Challenge which will be held in May 2015 in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Alpesh Dias & Sunil Kumar of Shangri-La’s Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa on winning: “We feel mixed emotions. I don’t know what to say, I am really speechless now because we have put a lot of hard work into this. Feeling great! Super!”

Chef Bernd Uber, WACS Reference Chef explained the criteria for choosing the winners saying, “We like to see the tea brewed with respect, knowledge of the tea, where it comes from, why did you pair this food with that tea. The tea in this competition is the Queen & the King of the day. Food is secondary. It’s all about tea.”

The Dilmah Real High Tea Challenge UAE 2014 was held in collaboration with the Emirates Culinary Guild and the World Association of Chefs Societies.