His Art-work almost always goes unseen, but a Cottelsoe barista from a take-away bar on Napolean street has taken out the 2013 Tubal Latte Art Competition.
Sam Dunn from Cimbalino was adjudged the inaugural winner of the award from over 50 entries attracting over 1300 votes in a photo-based competition run through the Tubal Facebook page. The competition was run over 7 weeks through September and October, and invited contestants to snap photos of their Latte Art with the word ‘Tubal’ or the official entry form somewhere in the frame to prove the identity of their work.
6 finalists were chosen – 3 based on the highest votes received from Facebook voters, and 3 other favorites of the Tubal judging panel. From this final 6 Sam’s dragon (pictured below) was chosen by the expert judge, coffee roaster and barista Dan Ainslie, as the winner: “The Dragon just shades the other finalists for it’s overall radness.
“The standards were high, and its great to see so many WA barista’s getting involved in a competition like this. The hospitality industry in this state is definitely benefiting from an increase in training, and the realization that hospitality is a genuine career that we should be proud of,” Ainslie said.
Peter Macdonald, Managing Director of Tubal, was also impressed with the latte art submitted to the competition: “Delivering hospitality traineeships across Western Australia, we get to meet many fantastic people who are passionate about working in hospitality. Not only was it great to have so many in the industry get involved in our latte art competition, the entries show that there is some world-class talent right here in WA.”
Sam is a full-time barista at Cimbalino, which along with the take-away bar has a dine-in Cafe serving breakfast and lunch. Sam received $1000 for his winning entry, as well as the title of “2013 Winner”, a certificate that can be seen proudly displayed at the espresso bar at Cimbalino.
Other finalists included Melissa McBride from Caffissimo West End, Celeste Aitken from Muffin Break Ellenbrook, Sophie Doyle from Dimattina Coffee in Osborne Park and Claire Sheedy from Treehouse Indoor Play & Cafe in Bibra Lake.
The finalists, as well as a number of other great entries can be viewed inside albums in the photo’s section on the Tubal Facebook page.
Information on Certificate II, III and IV in Hospitality workplace traineeships with Tubal can be found on Tubal’s website.
