For the fourth year in a row the high profile culinary contest, Thierry Blouet Jalisco Nayarit, was conducted with great success. Well-known chef Thierry Blouet seeks to encourage the skill development of young talents in the culinary field via this competition. Participants from distinguished restaurants such as Hotel Velas Vallarta, Tikul, Presidente Intercontinental, Tino & Blanco from Guadalajara, Caio 3 and Café des Artistes del Mar, met at Café des Artistes' Cocina de Autor to demonstrate their cooking experience and skills.

The participants prepared dishes using the ingredients selected by judges such as escolar fish, soy, tofu, millet and soybean oil. Each chef had three hours to make their presentation, which consisted of a main course and four servings, plus dessert. The jury was composed by renowned chefs including Phillips Piel from Four Seasons, Grupo Mayan’s Regis Lacombe, Kaiser Maximilian’s Andreas Rupechter, Trio's Ulf Henrikson, Presidente Intercontinental México's Guy Santero, and Mexico's vice president of International Le Cordon Blue, Marvin Patrick.

Heading up the prestigious jury was Chef Gerard Dupont, President of the Academy of France, as well as owner of Grupo Blouet, Thierry Blouet. First place was awarded to Andrés García from Café des Artistes del Mar, who won awards such as the bronze trophy Thierry Blouet Jalisco Nayarit 2009, $15,000. pesos in cash, a trip to the USA, a silver medal and a diploma by Le Academie Culinaire de France, among other recognitions. Second place went to Israel Magaña from Presidente Intercontinental, and third place to Caio 3's, Juan Carlos Santillan.

To close the competition, Cocina de Autor lead by chef Hugo Ahumada and his team, offered an exquisite six-course dinner accompanied by fine wine to participants, judges, vendors and special guests.