Copyright Hartford Courant
Another feather has been added to Connecticut’s cap. A man who lives among us has just been declared “World Noodle Champion.” It wasn’t about a single noodle as the title might imply, but rather a dish using double noodles. No doubt the tender lobster meat and rich goat cheese enhanced the taste. In the 2025 World Food Championships, known as the March Madness of food competition, Rocky Julianelle, 67, of East Haven took the world noodle champion title for his dish described by him as miniature lobster mac and cheese rolled into a handmade crepe finished with butter poached lobster on a micro green salad with a citrus vinaigrette. Here’s where the noodles shine: there were many little pasta tubes inside with the cheese and lobster and the larger handmade pasta crepe on the outside. It’s noodles in noodles, Julianelle said. Julianelle, who owns a home remodeling company as his primary business and is a competitive chef as a hobby, won $10,000 for the noodle category win and is now going on to the next level for a chance to win $150,000 in the Final Table competition in Arkansas attended by cooks across over 40 countries and every state in America, a spokesman for the organization said. The Final Table competition will be held in spring of 2026. He estimates that over decades of competitions of all kinds at all levels, he’s won about $90,000, not bad dough for a man who is a self-taught cook and earns a living as a contractor. He’s already training in his kitchen for the big competition. “I love cooking, especially in competition because I’m always looking to squeeze out the most flavor in every dish,” he said. “I always loved that connection of cooking for people that you care about and seeing them smile.” In this competition, with his wife, Paula, on his team, as well as friend, Carol Koty his dish was judged on the “Eat methodology of execution, appearance and taste, Julianelle said. Referring to Koty, he said, “Without her assistance I don’t think we would have won.” Julianelle, who grew up in New Haven with parents who are Italian and chefs said he specializes in Italian-American classics and northeast regional foods, combining both for his prize winning dish. He’s also formerly of West Haven. He’s been doing the World Food Championships for about 14 years and has also won World Chili Champion in 2019 and World Soup Champion in 2022 for a tomato velvet bisque with a crab tower in middle. The World Food Championships, held this year in Indiana have taken him to many places, including Las Vegas, Florida, Texas. Contestants need to qualify to compete and there are 10 categories with 20 contestants in each. A WFC spokesman said the categories in Indianapolis were: Bacon, Barbecue, Burger, Chef, Dessert, Live Fire, Noodle, Sandwich, Seafood, and Vegetarian. The food competitions in general over 30 years have brought he and wife of 35 years on many interesting travels and with part of the prize money they’ll take a nice vacation together, he said, and their only daughter, a fashion designer in New York will get a piece. If he wins the $150,000, they’ll take another vacation and he’ll invest the rest since he’s so close to retirement. He said having Paula on his team and cooking beside her all these years at home has strengthened their relationship. The trust built through cooking together and the bonding, “have brought us closer together.” They never argue, he said. Together they practice techniques for efficiency needed in competitive, timed cooking, he said. “The kitchen is a big connection for our relationship. And it has been for the last 20 to 30 years. You believe in each other all the years,” Julianelle said. “We had a common interest and looked forward to that time together. It strengthens the bond of the relationship.” Julianelle said that when deciding on a career, he considered becoming a chef, a contractor and even an artist of landscapes because he had a talent for all of them. He worked in restaurants years ago after starting his remodeling business and found it was drudgery day in and out. For 42 years he’s owned All Quality Building and Remodeling out of East Haven. He did cooking part time to make money and chose landscape painting and later, competitive cooking, as hobbies. In all of it, “I’m an artist truly at heart,” Julianelle said, noting he uses creativity in all the food endeavors. Julianelle said he’s a perfectionist who pays attention to detail whether it’s construction or cooking. “I always feel like something can be better,” he said.
