Steve Mallia and Reuben Grixti, Sous Chefs at Le Méridien, St Julian’s, Balluta Bay represented Malta in the 6th edition of the Istanbul Gastronomy Festival, taking home a total of seven awards.

They prevailed with three gold medals, from a total of eight awarded throughout the whole week of the festival; two bronze and another two bronze medals as team. Reuben Grixti also won Best Practical Competitor.

During this international competition at the TUYAP Beylikduzu Congress and Exhibition Centre in Istanbul over 700 chefs were invited to challenge each other in various categories. The Istanbul International Gastronomy Festival which is organised by Ekin Group in collaboration with The Culinary Federation is being held according to the rules and within the framework of categories determined by the World Association of Cook Societies (WACS).

The team of chefs was judged by an international jury.