Launch of the very first European Sushi Championship

This brand new championship will welcome the greatest sushi masters in Europe on Monday, March 27, 2023 in Monaco at THE NIWAKI restaurant. Ten sushi chefs selected for this unprecedented competition will represent their country and share their common passion for the high Japanese cuisine.

Monaco, Italy, Romania, Poland, Portugal… the best European sushi masters will be there. Created on the initiative of Julien Panet, organizer of the French Sushi Championship, this event brings a whole new dimension to the art of sushi while promoting good practices in the consumption of seafood products.

The best European sushi chefs selected on file will compete for the trophy in front of an international jury of professionals, composed of the president of the WSSI – World Sushi Skills Institute, star chefs, world sushi champions and experts.

The 10 candidates will be decided by 2 tests:

• Preparatory test (60 minutes): preparation of raw materials. The chef will have to present to the jury all the products he will use in the following round. The fish must be cut into saku.
• Creative test (60 minutes): the chef will have to propose on one or several plates 40 to 50 pieces of sushi including nigiri, maki, uramaki, kazari-maki, kazari-sushi, vegetarian sushi, as well as 15 pieces of sashimi.

In addition, the contestant must choose two creative «signature» sushi dishes and prepare 6 identical pieces of each, for a total of 12 pieces, on a separate plate for tasting.

One of the «signature» sushi must be a vegetarian recipe using Kopper Cress products.

After weeks of applications, 10 candidates were confirmed:

• France: Mickaël Pankar
• Italy: Diego Vianello
• Monaco: Lyfoung Vameng
• Czech Republic: Marek Hora
• Romania: Sorin Zaharia
• Poland: Marcin Konkiel
• Portugal: Diego Matinho
• Norway: Sergey Pak
• Belgium: Jefferson Elias Ribeiro Da Silva
• Spain : Hector Ribeiro

The winner will get 1000 euros.

The event will take place in Monaco at the Principality’s new Japanese destination, THE NIWAKI restaurant. Specializing in «Nipponese couture cuisine», this establishment also features a sushi counter headed by Chef Wagner Spadacio, winner of the titles of World Vice-Champion (2018) and French Sushi Champion (2017).

The President of the WSSI (World Sushi Skills Institute) and organizer of the World Championship in Tokyo will be present to observe the competitions.