The much awaited culinary art competition organised by the Chefs Guild of Sri Lanka and in association with World Association of Cooks Societies (WACS) was held from 26th to 28th November 2005 at BMICH. Heralded as Sri Lanka’s biggest food and hotel show, the competition was held for the 11th year with the participation of 950 chefs with more than 1250 entries.

Aitken Spence Hotels located in strategic cities in the country caters to a diverse market segment and is famed for its exquisite food and culinary art. Over a period of time the reputation gained in this specialisation has helped to position the chain of hotels as one the best in the region.

It comes as no surprise with the announcement that Aitken Spence Hotels being judged the overall winners with 97 medals in this year’s competition, surpassing some of the best known hotel brands in the country, reaffirming the high quality standard of food and the finer art of presentation seen throughout the group. As an individual entity Waters Edge, managed by Aitken Spence Hotels emerged as the winner with a Medal tally of 33 including 17 Gold Medals, a unique achievement and was closely followed by Kandalama Hotel. Aitken Spence Hotels in total received 34 Gold Medals including 3 Gold Medals with Excellence.

The chain of hotels participated in 17 events including the most coveted 5 course set dinner menu scoring highest marks in most categories. Some of the categories included were,

Petit Fours of Pralines
Artistic Pastry / Bakery Show Piece
Live Flambé & Cocktails
Plated appetizers / Hors d’ oeuvres
Butter Sculpture & live Ice Carving
The judges for the competition came from across 20 countries including Peter A. Knipp, honorary ambassador of the Singapore Food Association and