The kitchen brigade behind Taro Restaurant of Le Méridien St Julian's Hotel & Spa beat off stiff competition from 300 other local and international chefs and scooped 28 medals during the Malta Kulinarja championships.

This is the first time that Le Méridien took part in this prestigious competition, which is held every two years and is the only internationally recognised culinary event organised locally.

"After four long and intense competition days, two months of continuous preparation and training, and many sleepless nights our kitchen team succeeded in making the hotel proud by placing among the top three as overall medal winners, including a best-in-class performance during the Parade de Chefs event," hotel executive head chef Adrian Buttigieg said.

The championships, organised by the Malta Chefs Society, formed part of the Vivanda culinary fair and was held last weekend at the Malta Fairs and Convention Centre in Ta' Qali.

More than 300 Maltese and international chefs whipped up a menu of gastronomic dishes under the watchful eyes of international judges and hundreds of people who visited the fair to feast their eyes and taste buds.

The hotel's kitchen team clinched four gold medals - for Senior Practical Team, Local Cheese Course, Maltese Trophy: Junior, and Petit-fours - as well as 12 silver medals and a further 12 bronze ones. Three of the silver medals wins were also rated as the best in their respective classes by the judges.

"This is a great accomplishment for Le Méridien and a wonderful opportunity for our Taro restaurant team to parade their talent and present our culinary standards," general manager Alex Incorvaja said.

Some of the award-winning dishes will soon be featured in the new menu of Taro once the restaurant relocates to its newly refurbished destination within The Villa, the iconic    property which is part of the hotel's property in Balluta Bay.