Andreea Ignat, chef Richard Abou Zaki’s “golden knife”, is the winner of Chefi la cucite 2024. She is 35 years old, lives in Reghin, and is passionate about confectionery and pastry.
Andreea Ignat and Chef Richard Abou Zaki Photo: Chefi la Cutite/Antena 1
On Monday, December 30, the winner of the 14 Chefs at the Knives season was announced. Daniel Dumitrache, Andreea Ignat and Michele Răduță fought for the coveted trophy and the check worth 30,000 euros.
Andreea Ignat won the grand prize and also received a one-month internship at the Retroscena restaurant in Italy, with a Michelin star, offered by chef Richard Abou Zaki, reports Antena 1.
“I won!!! I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore. I could no longer see anything around me. I thank chef Richard for believing in me“, said Andreea in the grand finale.
During the show, the contestant impressed the jurors with her dishes, but also with her life story.
Richard Abou Zaki presented Andrea Ignat with the golden knife, impressed by both Andrea’s culinary talent and her courage and determination.
“You are my golden knife this season! It’s something super important to me! When I tasted the dessert it reminded me of my most famous dessert and I had such a vibe. You have a super beautiful, super warm soul, and your emotion honors me and this emotion will help us both in this contest!Chef Richard told him.
Passionate about confectionery and pastry, she began to know success during the pandemic with a personal business:
“My husband’s mother used to make some fabulous cakes, hence my love of sweets“, said Andreea, who opened a bistro in Reghin that enjoyed great success.
“There was a queue outside… During the pandemic, we started making eclairs, which were very appreciated. A friend of ours, who had moved to Cluj, started posting on social networks about our eclairs. It helped us, because that’s how we started having orders from Cluj and we had to find a way to get there with the products, since there was demand. We managed to open a location there too and it was an incredible success: people were queuing in front of the empty storefront. It was crazy: during the pandemic we were delivering eclairs with rented cars and there was a queue outside“, Andreea Ignat told in front of the four chefs, during the tasting stage.
