This past Sunday I was a lucky attendee of Bocuse d’Or USA 2012 – the premier Chef competition by Chef Paul Bocuse and The Bocuse d’Or Foundation, this year held at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY. The competition is a 3 day event to reveal the USA contestants for the 2013 international culinary competition held in Lyons, France.
Each team is given 5 1/2 hours to create two elaborate platter presentations, one centered around seafood and one on meat, each accompanied by three original garnishes.
The platters are presented before 24 judges, each among the most esteemed chefs in their country. The dishes are judged on overall harmony of flavors in the dish, presentation of the platter and techniques employed by each Chef and their teams.
The competition’s officials included Thomas Keller, Executive Chef of The French Laundry, Daniel Boulud of Daniel in NYC and Jerome Bocuse, VP of The Bocuse d’Or Foundation.
Other notable Chefs participated in the event who are on the Culinary Council: Grant Achatz of Alinea, George Mendez of Aldea, Michael White of Ai Fiori/Marea and Chris Hastings of The Hot and Hot Fish Club and more.
This year’s winner was Richard Rosendale, executive chef of The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and a certified master chef – see the exclusive interview with Richard and recap of the eventby Eater NY. This year’s other 3 finalists were William Bradley – Chef Instructor of Le Cordon Bleu, Danny Cerqueda – Executive Sous Chef of The Carolina Country Club and Jeffrey Lizotte – Chef de Cuisine of on20.
Special thanks to event sponsor @KitchenAidUSA for inviting me to attend the event at CIA as a VIP to experience the excitement of the competition!
We sampled amazing gourmet food – shrimp burgers, falafel and hummus, baba ganoush, foie gras, cheese and Bridor croissants, short ribs,
French champagne by Nicolas Feuillatte and lattes and cappucinos by Nespresso. It was an amazing event filled with USA’s top culinary talent and I wish all the Chefs the best of luck in next year’s 2013 competition in France!
I also had the pleasure of meeting Chef Denny Tratham of Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC and Chef Billy Skiper of Sodexo/Kennesaw State University in Atlanta, GA.. It was such a beautiful day we had to take the French champagne outside!
Check out all of the behind-the-scenes photos of the event in the slideshow below:
Check out a streaming video of the live event: