Contestants for Bocuse d'Or

LTH,




Bocuse d’Or Contestants Are Announced

By NICK FOX

Four New York chefs are among the 12 chosen on Monday to compete for the right to represent the United States in the Bocuse d’Or culinary competition, perhaps the most demanding and prestigious cooking contest.
The chefs are Luke Bergman, 28, of the Modern; James Kent, 30, of Eleven Madison Park; John Rellah, 40, of the New York Yacht Club, and Jeremie Tomczak, 33, of the French Culinary Institute. The other chefs are Danny Cerqueda, 29, of the Carolina Country Club in Raleigh, N.C.; Michael Clauss, 35, of Daily Planet in Burlington, Vt.; Mark Liberman, 31, of Roxy’s Black Sheep of West Palm Beach, Fla.; Christopher Parsons, 38, of Catch in Winchester, Mass.; Jennifer Petrusky, 22, of Charlie Trotter’s in Chicago; Andrew Weiss, 28, of the Chef’s Workshop in Las Vegas; Percy Whatley, 40, of the Ahwahanee in Yosemite, Calif., and the Top Chef contestant Kevin Gillespie, 26, of the Woodfire Grill, in Atlanta (a position on the team was a reward in one of the show’s competitions).
The chefs, each assisted by a commis, will compete on Feb. 6 at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y., to see who will go on to cook against teams from 23 other countries at the Bocuse d’Or International Culinary Competition in Lyon, France, on Jan. 25 and 26, 2011.
Last year Paul Bocuse, the famed French chef who started the competition 22 years ago, asked Thomas Keller to become the president of the American team to make sure it had a strong contestant. No American has ever placed in the top three at the event. (This year’s representative, Timothy Hollingsworth, Mr. Keller’s sous chef at the Napa Valley restaurant the French Laundry, came in sixth.)
This year’s contestants were selected by Mr. Keller and the two other directors of the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation, the chef Daniel Boulud and Mr. Bocuse’s son, Jerome Bocuse.

From today's Sun-Times:

She's just turned 23. She already has a dream job -- as a sous chef at Charlie Trotter's restaurant in Lincoln Park. And now Jennifer Petrusky has won recognition from the competition known as the culinary Olympics.

Petrusky missed out on the top prize, the gold medal, but won the "Best Fish" award at the prestigious Bocuse d'Or national competition. Petrusky, the only woman among the dozen finalists, impressed the judges with her salmon platter, which used every bit of the fish down to its bones

If you're interested in this thread, you might be interested in reading Knives at Dawn, see below (from Are You Qualified? thread):

janeyb wrote

Mike, I just read something that echoes your sentiment. The following quote is from Knives at Dawn America's Quest for Culinary Glory at the Legendary Bocuse d'Or Competition, by Andrew Friedman:
Chefs and their colleagues spend every moment of their working lives swinging from one precarious task to the next...And yet, to those who keep chefs in business, none of that matters. From neighborhood eateries to Michelin-ordained destinations, the moment of truth is brutally simple: the final product is presented, a few ounces framed within the confines of a plate or bowl. Fork or spoon is lifted. Food meets palate. Judgment is rendered.

(As far as the book, it's interesting, but I didn't love it, so I'm not writing it up for the Great Books thread. Still, worth a look for pictures and to learn something about this competition. I did enjoy the Three Months in Yountville chapter.)