Bellbridge's Renee Jones has returned to the Albury TAFE kitchen after a three months at Michelin-star restaurant Mume in Taipei, Taiwan.
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The 24-year-old was the fifth Albury-based student to win the Oliver C. Shaul Scholarship and take part in an international apprenticeship.
Miss Jones said when she started at TAFE NSW she had no idea how far the course would take her.
"When I first started... I told myself to make sure I took all the opportunities that were offered because TAFE is a really great place to start," she said.
"I did not think I'd be going overseas so soon, it was a plan for the future, to travel and cook and learn about food and culture - but it's all happened much sooner than I thought."
During her time at Mume the restaurant was named number 7 of the top 50 restaurants in Asia.
On average, Miss Jones worked 13 hours a day, five days a week but during her longest week she worked 91 hours.
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Miss Jones said she hopes to continue to travel to learn different flavours and techniques.
"I want to learn about other people's food and culture and see the world," she said.
"I really love Asian food so would like to go through Asia and would like to explore places like Vietnam, Thailand and Vanuatu because they're so different and food is so much more meaningful in places like that.
"For me, [food] is about bringing people together. Cooking for your family and bringing everyone together to eat it's just really special - it's why I love food so much."
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Digital journalists with The Border Mail.
Digital journalists with The Border Mail.
