Chicken liver, pineapple, and pistachio paste. Here’s how a hotel group tested its next generation of food and drink talent.

At a glance

•  260+ audition videos received
•  130+ hotel properties took part
• 15 finalists, 5 per category
•  30 to 60 minutes to cook, depending on category
  
  

Chicken liver, spring onions, and a spring chicken. That was the whole shopping list for five young chefs in Bogor on 19 October 2026. They had 60 minutes to turn it into a main course.

Archipelago Black Box Battle 2026 is an internal cooking and coffee competition run by Archipelago Hotels. It was held on 19 October 2026 at Aston Bogor Hotel & Resort for young chefs, pastry chefs, and baristas who work across the group’s hotels in Indonesia. Fifteen finalists competed in person, five in each category. Each podium finisher won a trophy, a medal, and a cash prize. The amount was not disclosed.

What is Archipelago Black Box Battle 2026?

Think of it as a cooking show with a real career attached. The contest mixes two formats: a video audition round from the Archipelago Young Chef Challenge, and the secret-ingredient test of the Black Box Battle.

More than 260 people sent in videos of their own dishes and drinks. Judges scored them on concept, technique, planning, hygiene, presentation, and how well the ingredients were used. Only 15 made it to Bogor. That’s fewer than 6 in every 100 entries.

What was inside the black box?

Each category got a different box, and none of them were easy.

Young Chefs had 60 minutes and the chicken liver, spring onions, and spring chicken. Young Baristas had 30 minutes to make one drink from coffee beans, oranges, and pineapple. Young Pastry chefs had 40 minutes to build a dessert from raspberries, yogurt, pistachio paste, and pistachios.

Here’s the catch: finalists couldn’t cook something new. They had to recreate the dish or drink from their audition video and work the secret ingredients into it. So the box didn’t just test skill. It tested how fast someone could change a plan they had already perfected.

Imagine the barista’s problem. Sour orange, sweet pineapple, and bitter coffee all have to share one glass.

Who won?
In Young Chef, I Komang Kartana of Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center took first place. Amirul Arief Maulana of Aston Bojonegoro City Hotel was second, and Hari Adi Saputro of Harper M. T. Haryono Jakarta was third.

In Young Barista, Ryan Nikko of Aston Batam Hotel & Residence won. I Putu Wira Sanjaya of Aston Canggu Beach Resort came second, and Agung Lianto of Aston Sidoarjo City Hotel & Conference Center came third.

In Young Pastry, Arum Bil Mauidhotil Hasanah of Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center took first. Ade Galang Pratama of Aston Malang Hotel & Conference Center was second, and Angga Nugraha Saputra of Aston Serang Hotel & Convention Center was third.

Here’s the fact worth sharing: Aston Denpasar Hotel & Convention Center won two of the three top prizes. Its kitchen produced both the best young chef and the best young pastry chef of the whole group.

“Great chefs and baristas are developed through experience, creativity, and a willingness to keep learning.”
 John Flood, CEO of Archipelago Hotels

Who judged the competition?

The panel included Winston Hanes, Senior Vice President of Operations, and Sari Kusumaningrum, Senior Director of Corporate Communications & PR. It also included Denny Wasana, Corporate F&B Manager; Corporate Executive Chefs A. S. Windoe and Denny Frederick; and Risman Sukmawan, Corporate Pastry Chef. PT Architama Catu Nusa supported the event as sponsor.

They scored taste, presentation, and how well each finalist combined the secret ingredients. They also looked at workflow, hygiene, and whether the work finished on time.