The Atlantic Tea Festival took place in Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal, from March 25th to 29th 2009.
13 teams registered for the event: eight from Italy, three from Portugal, one from Sweden and one from Austria.
The main goals of this Festival were to share the culture of Azorean tea as a unique European heritage, and to challenge the participants to use this ingredient in the preparation of dishes and drinks.
Restaurant Service competition
Culinary Arts competition
On the first day, the first 6 teams competed in the cooking and restaurant competitions. They had to prepare a menu with a starter, main course and dessert for two guests. During the morning and lunch time on the second day morning the other seven teams competed in the same categories. The bar competition for all the teams took place in the afternoon.
On the third day all the participants visited some of the major sites of São Miguel Island, including visits to the only two tea factories in Europe. That evening we held the closing ceremony with a formal dinner and the announcement of the winners.
The winners in each category were:
- Best Restaurant Service – Escola de Formação Turística e Hoteleira (Portugal) ;
- Best Culinary Arts performance – Escola de Hotelaria e Turismo de Mirandela (Portugal);
- Best Barman - BLT Tourism School Semmering (Austria);
- Special Award for Creativity and Innovation – Escola de Hotelaria e Turismo de Lamego (Portugal);
- Best Team – BLT Tourism School Semmering (Austria)
Text by Filipe Rocha, Headmaster of the Escola de Formação Turística e Hoteleira de Ponta Delgada
Translation by John Rees Smith
