2012 World Chef Champion
Travis Brust

Travis Brust, Executive Chef at the Williamsburg Inn, a Colonial Williamsburg signature restaurant, began cooking in a small Italian family restaurant in New York at the age of 14. Later, Brust became an American Culinary Federation Culinary Apprentice at The Balsams Grand Resort Hotel™ in Dixville Notch, N.H. During his four years at the Balsams Grand Resort, Brust traveled in the off seasons to many other high-ranking resorts in the country, including the Wigwam in Phoenix, to hone his craft. Among the resorts he travelled to was the Williamsburg Inn in Williamsburg, Va., where he was asked to come back after graduation as a rounds cook and worked his way up through the ranks over the next few years until being named Executive Chef in 2010. Brust has been the Chairman of the Colonial Williamsburg Apprenticeship Program for four years and oversees the development of nine apprentices and 38 staff members.

At the World Food Championships, Brust bested a host of highly-skilled chefs, including two celebrity chefs, on his way to a category win in the World Chef Challenge. The category competition was judged by notable food critics, Patrick Evans-Hylton, Colman Andrews, former editor-in-chief of Saveur magazine and current editor-in-chief of the Daily Meal and Barbara Fairchild, former editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit. Chefs competing in the World Chef Challenge went through a grueling two-day test of both hand-skills and cooking.

Once at the Final Table, Brust went up against the best home cooks, restaurateurs and trained chefs the competition had to offer. Brust's winning dish was a fennel-dusted rockfish with sautéed bitter greens, oyster mushroom and fresh oyster ragout, roasted pearl potatoes, orange scented beurre blanc and fresh carrot-cardamom gel.

The experience itself is what Brust identifies as being his favorite part of the World Food Championships.

"I truly enjoyed meeting everyone involved, being able to network, meet new chefs and professionals, sharing recipes, ideas and concepts," said Brust. "I really enjoyed the rush against the clock to create and prepare dishes for the judging panel. What a rush!"

Brust finished third at the Final Table, but was truly pleased with how he performed and wouldn’t change a thing.

"I concentrated on strong flavor foundations, proper execution and seasoning, then worked on presentation visually," said Brust. "I think I showcased my talents and determination that I would have on any other day."

Learn more about the 2012 World Chef Championship