Tastes-Going for the Gold – Bocuse d’Or

We enjoyed some of the most exciting days of our lives. We watched, at very close range, 19 of the world’s greatest chefs going for the gold. Drums and trumpets roaring added to the Olympic-like frenzy.

The final winners are:

Gold for Norway’s Geir Skeie, Restaurant Mathuset Solvold, Sandefjord;

Silver for Sweden’s Jonas Lundgren;

Bronze for France’s Philippe Mille, Hotel Le Muerice, Paris.

Best of all, we were able to chat with U.S. Chef Thomas Keller, of French Laundry fame (7 stars) and 82 year old master Paul Bocuse founder of the Bocuse Institute of Culinary Arts and Bocuse d’Or.

Accompanied by our friend, mentor, interpreter, Master French Chef, Herve Laurant, owner of the School of Culinary Arts (SCARTS) who had been with Le Cordon Bleu for several years and the Paul Bocuse Institute, we had an inside track.

With Herve, we were able to dine, laugh and enjoy with many well-known and respected chefs as well as gain an inside knowledge on the importance of judging properly. Since we have done judging and enjoy it, we were delighted to observe and gain more professional insights.

We’ll write more on Bocuse d’Or as there is much more to say. However we both will look forward to any questions you may have.

Maralyn D. Hill and Brenda C. Hill