It’s been two grueling days for 12 chef teams going head-to-head at the biennial Bocuse d’Or final competition. Held at the Sirha Show in Lyon, this year’s theme gave a nod to two culinary titans we lost in 2018: Joël Robuchon and Bocuse d’Or founder Monsieur Paul Bocuse.
Each team, consisting of one lead chef and one commis, has five hours and 35 minutes to prepare one meat dish and one fish dish. Contestants were to roast a veal and serve it with three mandatory garnishes and one sauce or gravy for 14 people, and create a version of the classic chartreuse using seafood, sauce or gravy, vegetables and aromatic herbs.
This year, all eyes were on Team USA—chef Matthew Kirkley (who decamped from Coi in 2017 to begin training) and commis Mimi Chen (of Daniel)—who won the competition two years ago. Kirkley and Chen presented an intricate vegetable chartreuse with cockle butter and roast rack of veal with veal kidney farce, apicius spice glaze and salad pastorale.
But it wasn’t enough to take top honors. Instead, it was the Nordic countries who swept the podium. Taking bronze were chefs Christian André Pettersen and Håvard André Josdal Østebø of Norway. Silver went to team Sweden led by chef Sebastian Gibrand and commis Gustav Leonhardt. And chefs Kenneth Toft-Hansen and Christian Wellendorf Kleinert from Denmark took home the 2019 Bocuse d’Or. See the complete results below.
Bocuse d’Or 2019 Results
1. Denmark
2. Sweden
3. Norway
4. Finland
5. Switzerland
6. France
7. Japan
8. Belgium
9. United States
10. United Kingdom
11. Iceland
12. Hungary
Congratulations, chefs! See you again in 2021.
Photos courtesy of the Bocuse d'Or Facebook page.
