Andrew Felton, left, with the winner Masako Yamamoto, centre, and third-placed Wayne Moreno.
Local barista Andrew Feldon from Hawthorne Cafe took second place in the Restaurant Association's inaugural Barista Smackdown competition held this week.
In the first event of its kind held in Auckland, baristas competed head-to-head in the interactive competition where they had 90 seconds to make a randomly selected coffee and
present the brew to the panel of industry experts judging the event.
Mr Feldon battled his way through eight rounds to make the top three yesterday. Masako Yamamoto was the winner, with Wayne Moreno coming in third. The Barista Smackdown was organised by the Restaurant Association and was held at Finefood New Zealand. Marisa Bidois, CEO of the Restaurant Association says its motivation for organising events like these is to highlight industry talent.
This event was sponsored by Tiger Coffee, Meadow Fresh and Incafe.
