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2025 World's Fair Faculty Culinary Showdown
Location: HKIS High School Gym
Date: Saturday, March 29th, 2025
Time: Kick off from 12 PM
Cheer on your favorite Divisional Faculty Culinary Teams at the annual Culinary Showdown! In less than 1 hour, teams must put together their best picnic basket staples AND decorate cupcakes to our theme of "Gather & Graze." The first place and runner up awards will be decided on by our expert panel of judges.
Come cast YOUR votes! YOU decide the winners in these People's Choice categories:
Charming Costume
Terrific Team Name
Delightful Decoration
Who will win the coveted title of Winner for the 2025 Faculty Culinary Showdown 2024? Come find out and sample their goods on Saturday, March 29th!
High School
Bread-y or Not
Middle School
Royal Gingham Gourmands
Upper Primary
Gather Up and Graze
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Lower Primary
Picnic Pioneers
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Meet the Judges
Christopher Burgess
President, The American Club
Christopher moved to Hong Kong in 1996, first settling in the Mid-levels but later landing in Pokfulam and the Southside, where he and his wife, Katrise, and 2 children Dylan (15) and Savanna (12) live.
Both Dylan and Savanna have attended HKIS since R1 and Christopher previously served on the Lower Primary PAG and Advancement Committee for 3 years and Co-Chaired the Annual Fund for 3 years.
Christopher has served on Committees and the Board of the American Club for the last 6 years and now serves as President as the Club begins to celebrate its Centennial.
He and his family are excited to attend the World’s Fair and Christopher even more excited to be judging so many delicious dishes from around the world.
Pallavi Sheth
Founder, I Love Babycakes
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Pallavi is a self-taught baker, whose passion for baking started at the age of 9 with her first pound cake experiment. She currently runs her bakery, I Love Babycakes in Mumbai, which she founded in August 2009 and here in Hong Kong since January, 2019 shortly after she moved to this city with her family. Babycakes specializes in cupcakes, cakes and other baked goods in delightful themes and also takes pride in running fun baking events for children and adults alike here in their Wan Chai kitchen.
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Pallavi, her husband, Jai and their two daughters, Kaira (HKIS Class of 2023) and Thia, currently in Grade 11 at the school, are all self-confessed foodies and are in love with Hong Kong in equal measure.
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She is very excited to be a part of the faculty cook off and see what the very creative team members (if the last few years are anything to go by) come up with in their culinary pursuits. The cupcakes decorated in the Feed the Dragon theme are definitely going to be the cherry on the cake, she claims!
Juni Cortes
HKIS Upper Primary Kid Kitchen Leader
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Ms. Juni's passion in the kitchen all started with a chocolate chip cookie pre-mix box at 13. Solidified by a brave career shift in 2015, from being a lifestyle researcher to a specialized cake decorator. Honed her skills for 8 years before joining the HKIS community to inspire both kids and adults that the kitchen is a fun and amazing place to create magic.