A plate of vegan bolognese, a dish created by chef Kshtiz Sethi from zucchini noodles, chickpeas and lentils, is seen at Paese, the restaurant where he honed his pasta-making skills.
Salvatore Morra, general manager of Paese, stands with Kshitiz Sethi (top right.) Morra has become a mentor to Sethi, and the two travelled parts of Europe together before landing in Paris for the Pasta World Championship.
He encourages the young chef to continually innovate and try new dishes, including cavolo nero gnocchi (bottom right), which gets its colour from the leftover too-hard-to-eat stems of black kale used in the restaurant's salads, and handmade potato cavatelli, served with a mixture of seafood (top left.)
Although eliminated in the first round, chef Sethi won the wild card announced at the end of the first day of competition. He easily won the second round with a take on his vegan bolognese, using Barilla's healthier line of pasta. He came in as a runner-up in the final.