The World Class Australian Finals 2017 were announced last night at Restaurant Hubert in Sydney with Andrea Gualdi of Maybe Frank crowned the winner.
The competition finals were held over two consecutive days where 20 finalists competed in a series of challenges. The winners of the individual challenges are:
- Low ABV – Matt Linklater from The Black Pearl (VIC)
- World Class in a Glass – James Irvine from The Swillhouse Group (NSW)
- Shared Serve Challenge – Jake Down from This Must Be The Place (NSW)
- Against the Clock – Phil Spector from Bulletin Place (NSW)
Each challenge was hosted and judged by a panel of local and international experts including Paul Carmichael, executive chef of Momofuku Sydney; restaurant critic and Good Food creative director Gemima Cody; restauranteur and owner of Swillhouse Group Anton Forte; former Global World Class ambassador and beverage director of Ku De Ta Justin Smyth and former World Class winners Charlie Ainsbury and Jack Sotti.
Andrea Gualdi will travel to Bangkok to participate in the first ever World Class Bar and Scotland to visit the home of Johnnie Walker before travelling to Mexico to compete in the World Class Global Finals on 21 August 2017. You can read our interview with Andrea Gualdi on Cocktails & Bars.
For a full photo gallery of the event, visit and like the Gourmantic Facebook page.
Photography © by Kevin Burke for Gourmantic – Copyright: All rights reserved.
