Merci Bocuse (2019) - full transcript

(traffic rumbling)

(people chattering)

(quiet music)

- I remember distinctly as a kid

spending a lot of time on my aunt's farm,

outside of a small village of Heidelberg

where we grew up.

And she had a farm, animals, vegetables,

and I remember the smells and her cooking.

And to this day every
time I eat a cherry tomato

or a green bean or I smell hay



it immediately takes me back.

(cheering)

What got me interested in The Bocuse d'Or

I was a young cook and I
was watching a documentary

of Canadian Chef Robert Sulatycky

who competed for Canada.

And I remember just being
really inspired watching that.

And I knew that one day
I'm going to compete

in this competition.

(jaunty orchestral music)

(crowd cheering)

(scraping)

(applause) (cheering)

(cheering)



(cheering)

(quiet music)

(speaking foreign language)

(applause) (cheering)

- I see the Bocuse competition

like the Olympics of cuisine.

One athlete, a chef,
who'll be on the podium

cooking for 5 1/2 hours.

- To cook for your country

is a monster responsibility.

Because it says who we are.

It's not only a competition.

It's not about the winning.

It's about representing.

- The Bocuse d'Or is a competition

that was created by Paul Bocuse

as a way to bring chefs
out from behind the scenes

and into the spotlight.

(quiet music)

- Paul Bocuse, for me,

is one of the most famous
chefs in the world,

if not the famous chef in the world.

He created the cuisine
that was second to none.

And for about 50 years he's had

three-star Michelin restaurants.

So he was a focused man.

But he was definitely a showman as well.

Why is the Bocuse so
important, very simple.

Premier culinary competition world wide.

It's just not all the French cuisine.

It's different countries
bringing their touch

to a cuisine that's been
around for a long, long time.

- [Jenna] It's so important for us

to partake in this global challenge.

It's the pinnacle of food competition.

If we want to maintain that presence

in the world of food,

Canada needs to keep pushing

to be on that world stage.

(traffic rumbling)

- In my opinion Trevor is the right person

to do this competition.

He's young, passionate,
he has a lot of energy,

lots of experience as well.

- I've known Trevor for over 20 years now.

He was my Bocuse Commis in
Vancouver many moons ago.

And he was a young, young,

young man, he had great work ethic.

Through out the years,
Trevor's been nothing

but a surprise in his growth.

(quiet music)

- Trevor was the right candidate

because you need someone who's got passion

and someone who wants to get there.

And he needs all the tools
to get there as well.

But he had the drive and that
motivation and perseverance.

- My name is Trevor Ritchie,
I'm a Chef Technologist

at George Brown College.

I was born in Brantford, Ontario,

but spent most of my time growing up

in Kitchener-Waterloo.

(quiet music)

I first realized I was
interested in cooking

at the age of 15.

Working at this restaurant in
a small village, St. Jacobs,

a nice little restaurant.

And at the end of service,
as the dishwasher,

I had to take the garbage
out at the end of the day.

I had all these garbage
bags full of whatever

in my hands and then walked out the back

to the dumpster and there wasn't a ladder

or a staircase and I
remember just about like here

all these hot veal bones
just broke through the bag

and the next thing I know

I had a face full of garbage.

The next day I go in, talk to the chef,

sit down, just about to give my notice,

and before I got a chance to,

he asked me, "Do you
want to start prepping?

"Would you like to start
doing some prep jobs?

"Peeling vegetables,
slicing, making salads?

"Would you be interested in that?"

And I said, "Well absolutely,
that's great, for sure."

Everything was so exciting to me.

I started off just peeling carrots

and dicing onions and that
was so much fun that I had.

For some reason I loved
always doing the basic things.

I always had in mind
that I want to compete

at the Bocuse d'Or.

So what I did is I knew that I needed

to work at the best
restaurants I could find.

I knew that I needed to get
involved in competitions.

So I went after everything
I possibly could.

- The competition is three-stages process.

Trevor won, last year,
the national competition

against other chefs coast to coast.

He ended up winning the first place,

giving him the chance to
represent our country.

- Winning the National
Selection was really exciting.

It took a couple of days to sink in.

Moving on towards the
Continental Selection,

the skill level is even higher.

- This competition is
more than just winning

the first place, it's
about working together

in the same country to
make our cuisine be better.

And to promote it world wide.

- 'Cause it's like,
- Yeah I was,

- A potato won't be stable enough.

- Yeah, - For it to,

(quiet music)

- The Commis role in the kitchen

is very important for a lot of reasons.

You need to have strong people around you.

This is so much more than just cooking.

I'm training everyday, working
for the biggest competition

in the culinary world.

So I need to have somebody that
doesn't just have the skills

but that has the drive,
that has the mentality

that has the endurance to go through

and withstand the pressures

that the contest demands.

(quiet music)

- The Commis Chef in the Bocuse d'Or

is essentially an
extension of the candidate.

So we all work together
to develop our recipes

and develop our program.

And in a way I sort of fill the gap.

- Commis Chef would generally
do more of the basic prep.

But as it pertains to the Bocuse d'Or

it's definitely elevated.

That role becomes more
increasingly important

and they're full-on producing

incredible, highly delicate foods.

- I was just finishing my program

and my chef at the time knew

that Trevor was looking for someone.

And she got us in touch.

- I could tell by the way

that she carried herself
in her professionalism.

Even by the way that she
moves, very graceful, serious,

but also had a very positive presence.

That was everything
that I was looking for.

- It makes me feel very lucky

to be working under
someone who is so patient

but so passionate, and so
driven with what he's doing.

He makes sure that I'm coming out of this

with more than just the
result we want on the podium,

it's about me growing as a chef.

So to be in that position

is really gratifying.

Great! (hands slapping)

(laughing)

(quiet music)

- Jenna is a ballerina.

When she moves, she
moves really beautifully,

but she's physically strong.

- Growing up I was actually
a competitive dancer.

Starting from the age of three.

And so my experience there,

learning that discipline
and also pushing myself

to be the best that I could,

that really showed me
my competitive nature

and that sort of drive
to always out-do myself.

I never saw myself making
a career out of dance,

but taking that thing from my childhood

and being able to apply
it in a whole new way

to match the life that I wanna have now,

it's really special.

Cooking's always been something

that's really cathartic for me.

It's a craft for sure, but it's also

something that I find to be an art form.

There's something that just feels right

about being the kitchen and
getting to create something

out of a raw ingredient

and turning it into something

that can actually invoke
emotion in a person.

- [Trevor] On the platter
it looks more impressive.

- It's how it stands,
I would plate one next.

Like do you get the bone like to stand

get the bone up a little bit?

Or a natural curve right?

- Our coach, Jame Olberg, was actually

the last candidate representing Canada,

back in 2017 at the final.

I know him as the coach who always told me

to love what I'm cooking.

That was always what he was enforcing.

- [Trevor] I'm very
fortunate and very lucky

and honored to have him as my coach.

He has a wealth of knowledge,

amazing chef, more passionate
for The Bocuse d'Or,

maybe than myself.

- The camaraderie that we have

on Team Canada is something
really special and unique.

We have our president and our
judge representing Canada,

John Higgins, who has really guided us

in developing our food.

Our Kitchen Assistants, Nick and Kevin,

they played really
integral roles on the team.

Whether that's just making sure

we always have our mise en place
scaled out for the next day

or helping us come up
with these insane ideas

to create those wild
garnishes we're looking for.

I couldn't imagine just Trevor and I

trying to come up with those ourselves.

- A lot of the countries around the world

are getting really strong,
very talented chefs,

different ideas, different flavors,

different resources that they may have.

It all brings something new to the table.

So it was important for
us to push the envelope

in our design, in our food,
in the way that we look,

everything, everything
that we could think of.

When people see us walking in the halls,

there's no question, "Oh
there's Team Canada."

(quiet music)

- When you do the platter,

it's almost like a piece of jewelry.

- We have multiple
opportunities to wow the judges

on the day of when we're competing.

It's not just about when
we bring out the food

and it's presented to them.

It's about how we work and
how our kitchen is set up.

But one of the most important
things is the platter.

Everyone remembers the
platter of the winning team.

- When looking at a platter,

the judges will take a particular look

at the overall aspect.

Does it truly reflect your country?

And then does it all go well together?

Is it symbolic, does is represent
something in particular?

And it's almost like you
don't have to eat the food

that's on it, but you've already
tasted it by looking at it.

(quiet music)

- Over the long-term,
understanding that this has been

my dream for so long, and
okay, now it's happening.

You know time to go.

So that's when things
really started to move.

And I got more deep
involved into the process.

I really started to think
of what are the things

that I need in order to succeed?

And I started to think
about what's the best team.

I reached out to Luigi,
because I was searching

for someone, or a team,
to design our platter.

So that's how it all started.

And then I knew that George
Brown had a design school.

So it was logical for me to approach them

and see, "Would you be interested?"

- My role was designing and managing

the fabrication of the platter.

Yeah, I noticed you really liked this.

Thomas liked it.

- I like this, this has
proven to be successful.

- [Sean] Okay, so here's the thing.

- Sorry one thing, if we did this

sort of arrangement and had the garnishes

somehow on different levels somehow.

I mean even if it was subtle,

that would be very impressive I think.

- I'll work on that.

I was thinking of combining this

with that original ripple together.

- I love it.
- Yeah.

- I love it. (quiet music)

Sean is an amazing person to work with.

He's really easy to talk to.

A good listener.

A much better listener than I am.

And he helps to solve problems

and has a very creative
way of looking at things.

(quiet music)

He really enhanced the vision
of what we were trying to do.

(quiet music)

- We're thinking that,

I'll tell you from our perspective

both Sean and I, we were lookin'
them all over last night,

and trying to decide
exactly which ones to show

which ones we should add.

- If I had to choose today,
you know like Trevor,

it has to with one of these.

You gotta pick up the pace.

I would say either we go two routes,

either we do, we do something
like this for Mexico,

and something like this for France.

'Cause you know I'm
obsessed with the mushroom.

And I absolutely love this drip thing.

I like the water and I love that.

The platter, for Mexico,

we decided to go with a water theme.

That was a progression from
a lot of different thinking.

Luigi had this idea.

And is was important that we were using

a Canadian concept for the platter.

So one of the concepts that we had

was representing the Great Lakes.

- [Luigi] We are fortunate
enough to have huge

and massive resources of fresh water.

- We had this really cool
idea for a Georgian Bay

sort of a look.

Which was beautiful, but finding a design

that fits within the
constraints of the competition

and that really highlights the food.

Which is the most important.

We still landed on a
water theme at the end.

And we wanted to create
something different

and try to set the trends
rather than follow the trends.

Because that's what The
Bocuse d'Or is about.

It's about what's new, what's
innovative for the future.

So we wanted to do something different.

(quiet music)

- The most challenging of this
project was the fabrication.

Because the form of that design

was such an unusual from.

In fabrication industry it was pioneering.

So we had difficulties to
find the right fabricators

who were willing to do the job.

And because this was an national project

many of them were willing to do that.

But in terms of technology
and in terms of machinery

they were short so we
had very difficult time

to get them onboard.

(quiet music)

- [Sean] Thank you so much.

- It looks amazing.
(quiet music)

- [Sean] There are some flaws.

Please forgive those. - No, no.

It's a rough draft, but it looks amazing.

With this water concept

we decided, "Hey, could we do something

"different with the platter?"

Maybe we could create
some layers of texture

in the actual metal.

So that's when we decided,

"Hey we got this water theme,

"why don't we do ripples of water?"

- The idea of the ripples in
the water thrown by a pebble

were there to reinforce the whole idea

of bringing Canada out into the world,

rippling the effect of our culture,

growing, helping people understand

how the whole process of creating food

is a process that starts with the rain,

growing on to the Earth.
- The water ripple

I don't think has ever been done before.

And that's very like, warming
and everybody understands

that. - Right.

We had the elevated boardwalk

over the water, lake of the food.

We had the special cranberry ponds

that the food sat on.

Everything was there to
put the food in relief.

(quiet music)

- This competition is all about

the chic, slick, like
everything high-end as possible.

The workmanship on a wood platter

is it equal to the workmanship
on a sliver platter?

The sliver one wins every time.

So whatever looks the more luxurious.

- Then we still also had the idea

of having the ripples.

Is that possible on that?

- We could, you could,
you could emboss it.

Imagine, I mean you've got it there,

where you've got a soft touch lamination.

And then the ripples you could do

in that high gloss.

- I think that would be that touch.

That you were looking for Sean.

(quiet music)

- When we were designing the book,

we actually took this
concept of the platter

and migrated them into an
overall brand identity.

And so we embossed the
menu with the ripples,

we created a logo that was the brand

with a fluttering maple leaf

that had fallen on the water.

Something very typical that
one sees in Canada in the fall.

And then we incorporated all the elements

that had gone into the
food in their natural state

into the menu so that you could see

what were the elements
that had been grown,

and then how they'd been
shaped and re-cooked

to become a final garnish
for the competition.

(quiet music)

- So 10 minutes?
- Yeah,

the fish is cooking if
we don't have an oven.

So it's cooking in the
oven way over there.

So, - Okay.

- Probably more like 15.

To prepare for The Bocuse d'Or

you need to practice.

And it was really important for us

to understand and make
sure that everything

we're doing is celebrating
the theme of the contest.

That's proper cooking Canadian products.

Are we really treating those products

and bringing out the best in them?

So that's number one.

The pieces of food that are on the plate

are the most important thing.

So once we figure out

all of those things, they're
all checked off the list,

then it's about repetition.

And can you get it done
in the amount of time.

Can you get it done under the pressure,

under the environment of the contest?

And with anything, I think
the more that you practice,

the more confidence you're
going to get out of it.

- We're very lucky we're able to get

a consistent space to work in.

To have that corner of the kitchen

on our practice days,
where we could set up.

We had dividers between us and classes

going on around us.

So we still had all that
energy and that noise

just beyond those dividers,

but it was just us in our sort of bubble,

cooking these things that
we've been rehearsing.

That was the closest thing we could do

to replicate the competition environment.

- When you're sick and tired
of doing that same piece

of food for the 100th time,

you just gotta remember
that each time you do it

you're getting stronger,

you're building your confidence.

And ultimately, on the day,

you're gonna be so thankful
that you put in all that time.

- Sorry?
- I don't know.

I'll have to get these garnishes out,

- [Jenna] Sunchokes, yep.

We love sunchokes in Canada.
- You'd never know.

- [Jenna] No.

- [Trevor] It's quite beautiful.

(quiet music)

The meat dish for Mexico,

we really wanted to
celebrate the suckling pig.

So we tried to do that in
as many ways a possible.

Roulade of the pork,
we wanted to make sure

that we had crispy skin.

We used the pork belly
with dates as well a maple.

Quebec fois gras as well as

some mushroom preparations,
wild mushrooms.

We also made a boudin noir
which is blood sausage.

And then we had other accompaniments

like Canadian, Ontario apples,

wild rice, naturally harvested

it's grown all throughout the prairies.

(quiet music)

- [Jenna] Our final fish
plate that we landed on

after so much trial and
error and so much changing,

it had our salmon piece that
had canola and horseradish.

Our asparagus piece that
was a piece of asparagus

wrapped in confit kumquat,

compressed yuzu apple
with a pea puree on top.

And then we had a really
eye-catching piece

that was in the shape of a clam

made of sunchoke with a set clam chowder

and caviar and Canadian yukon potato.

- We really tried to look
at the whole country.

We're lucky that we have so
many different environments

that we can get different
ingredients from.

It was like four, and
then we narrowed it down

to three, two and then decided on one.

So I don't know what
shape it's gonna take.

- I knew this was coming
when I started dating him.

So every year there was
one or two competitions.

And it's just his thing.

It's just what he does.

Trevor competes and that's his life.

That's his world.

That's his hobby, he loves it.

- The Bocuse d'Or has been

just about a three-year long journey now.

And it progressively is getting
a little bit more intense

as the days go by.

And it's been a lot of sacrifice.

When I met my wife, Jessica,
she knew I was a competitor.

She knew that I wanted to
compete in The Bocuse d'Or.

But we never really understood how long

that was going to take.

Or what kind of dedication that would take

until it actually happened.

And that's when you realize

this takes a big chunk out of your life.

It's been a lot of sacrifice.

A lot of family events missed.

It's really consuming.

- Throughout our whole relationship

he's been competing.

And I've never seen him so devoted.

- You have in your mind all the time

that these other chefs,
these world-renowned chefs,

are putting in all this
time and this energy.

If I wanna compete at that level

I have to constantly be thinking about

"Is my food good enough?

"Am I doing the right thing?

"How can I be better?"

It takes a toll, and unfortunately

my family, my wife, they're the ones

that have to deal with it.

I do take some time for family

and my wife to do something
outside of Bocuse,

get away from the kitchen,

get your mind off of it.

It's easier said than done.

And it's no surprise, my family knows

sometimes I'm there but
I'm not really there.

I'm thinkin' about it all the time.

(quiet music)

- Yes there's challenges.

But I think if anything
it makes us stronger.

Because it's so intense

and you have to have such
a strong support system

to do something this intense.

- What holds it all together

and gives them some comfort

is that they know what I'm working towards

and they know it's not permanent.

There's some guilt attached to that.

But I also know that this is who I am.

This is my dream.

And there's no turning back.

(quiet music)

(people chatting)

- Anyway I just want to

I thought it'd be a good chance

for us all to get together

and to say thank you and
wish Trevor and the team

going to Mexico at the
weekend much success.

It's been a long journey for Trevor.

Trevor is, it's been his
ambition for a good few years

to represent Canada in The
Bocuse d'Or competition.

I just wanted to gather
a few people together

here who have made a big
difference to the team.

- Well I'd just like to thank Chef Higgins

and the team for inviting me

to this auspicious occasion

to wish you well,

you and the team well Trevor.

We are so proud of what
you have accomplished.

I have a soft spot in my heart

for the Hospitality and Culinary Team.

It just never ceases to amaze me

the incredible work that you do.

- Thank you, thank you so much.

For all the work and everything.

It's one of the best
parts of this experience

has been working with all of you

and the other people at the college.

And we really tapped into everywhere.

I remember Luigi, and
he's not the only person

that's said it to me, but he said,

"I can see," after two meetings
I had with him he said,

"I see you're obsessed
with this competition."

Like very straight forward, he said,

"I can see that you're obsessed
with this competition."

And I took a step back and
it's not the first time

I've heard this.

But when he said that it made me think

a little bit like, "Am I
taking it too seriously?

"Is this taking too much
of my personal life,

"my career, is this all worth it?"

I had that thought for a few seconds

but then I really started to think about

the people that I've been able to impact

and bring up the next
generation of talent.

Thank you so much. (applause)

(quiet music)

(plane engine whirring)

When I got off the plane

I was really concerned about the food.

How is the food?

How are we going to get
it across the border?

Do it properly?

And the platter that's another thing.

You're shipping this very peculiar,

large metal case with this
delicate piece of art in it.

So you can imagine as a security guard

in the airport, you're gonna
start asking some questions.

So when I saw Sean interacting
with some the security guards

there and the people in the airport,

I was a little bit nervous.

I said, "Oh, what if they
don't accept this thing

"into the country?

"We're really in trouble."

(serious music)

I'm not really sure what he did.

I knew that some way or anther
he was going to get it there.

He said, "You know what,
if I have to drive it in

"from Canada to drive down to Mexico,

"I'll do that, I love road trips."

(serious music)

You gotta have one of those

whatever-it-takes mentalities.

That's the only way to go about it.

(truck door clicks)

(serious music)

Setting up and preparing
at the competition

went really smooth for us.

I was happy.

And everybody stepped up to the plate

as soon as we were allowed
to get in the kitchen

it was just an army
preparing for the battle.

- [Jenna] They all came in,
in this sort of assembly line

and set everything up so
quickly, so efficiently,

and we knew that we were
really lucky to have that.

- [Trevor] Knowing that you have that team

setting up your equipment and support,

giving yo that pat on the back,

a little last minute encouragement

walking into that kitchen
makes a big difference.

We ran into some surprises.

The oven was not what we were expecting.

It was a different oven than
we had been practicing with.

And that makes a big difference.

The type of oven, what model it is,

it all effects the cooking.

How aggressive is the fan in there?

How quickly does it heat up or cool down?

There's all sorts of
potentials for problems

when you're not working with
the specific ingredients.

And the other other factor
is different elevation.

You may not think about that.

But higher elevation in Mexico City

causes water to boil at
a different temperature.

(intense music)

(applause) (cheering)

- Good morning everyone.

Welcome, it's really a pleasure

for me to be here at The
Bocuse d'Or Americas.

There're 11 exceptional
and talented chefs.

They're gonna be helped by their Commis

and their coach.

And they have precisely 5:35 hours

to show their dishes.

And then only five will
go to the Grand Final

in Lyon on January 2019.

(intense music)

- Cooking at the
competition was different.

It's always different,
a different environment,

you've got the crowd
noise in the background.

And you're in an unfamiliar environment.

You're using products

that are similar to what you were using

but maybe not identical.

You may get something
that's larger or smaller

or has a different moisture content.

Like I always say, the
food is always different,

no two items are ever the same.

So cooking there was
differently more high-pressure

than our home kitchen.

(intense music)

- It was just assumed that we would have

a third person assisting
us in the kitchen.

We found out a few days before we left

that we weren't going to
have that third person.

Suddenly we had this list of things

that we knew we needed to get done

in that 5 1/2 hour time span

and one less person to do it all.

We did not freak out
at that the situation.

We knew it was a curve ball for us,

but the night before we competed

we were actually told
we get that third person

in the kitchen.

So there was so much back and forth.

But we were ready to make whatever changes

we needed while still keeping our food

at its max quality that we could offer.

(intense music)

- Trevor was doing amazing.

I had reset his program on the fly

'cause he'd gotten so fast.

I had asked him to do so many things

that we had put aside for the Commis.

I think he was 35 minutes
ahead of schedule.

(announcer speaking over PA)

(intense music)

When we got to a certain stage

where we caught up with
time, we lost time.

It came down to the crunch for us.

They give you a five minute grace period

to send the platter.

We had 20 seconds away from
getting deducted points.

(serious music)

- [Announcer] We're about the receive

the platter from Canada.

Okay, so are you guys ready?

- [Narrator] During the
final detail, very precise.

It's a beautiful tray.
(speaking foreign language)

It's really, really amazing what they do.

(people speaking foreign language)

(audience cheering)

- [Announcer] Big round
of applause for Canada!

(cheering) (applause)

Bravo! (applause)

- To win a competition like this

you really have to bring something

that is an automatic wow.

When that platter goes by

it has to hit all the notes.

It has to be something immediately

that you know that's gonna
be one of the top countries.

So that has to be something

with a unique design

that's eye catching.

When you look at the food you can tell

if it tastes good or
it doesn't taste good.

Without even tasting it.

And generally when things
are cooked properly

they automatically look good.

(serious music)

(crowd murmuring)

- [Announcer over PA] The third place

- [Judge] Argentina!

(cheers) (applause)

- Argentina third prize Bocuse d'Or

Americas! (applause)

And now for the second place
of Bocuse d'Or Americas.

(speaking foreign language)

Please welcome Mathew
(speaking foreign language)

(applause)

Mario the Regional Manager of Sirha.

- [Mario] Canada! (cheering)

(upbeat music)

- I felt very proud.

For him to come in second
I thought it was great.

You're on the podium in the top five,

it's a great spot to be.

- Really think that we set ourselves apart

right off the bat.

Right from how we presented ourselves,

our team, the dedication,
the professionalism,

the way we set up the kitchen.

It's funny because you can almost tell

what are the stronger
teams in the countries

before the competition even starts.

We knew we had a strong
team, a strong design,

strong food, good flavors, good coaching.

We had all the tools we needed to succeed.

So we knew that we were gonna do well.

And podium was what we wanted.

(quiet music)

- Obviously everyone wants first place.

But you don't want first place

if you don't deserve first place.

I think we, despite wanting
to have a better placement,

we know what we put forward

and we were able to look
at what the U.S. did

to get that top prize

and what we were maybe missing.

What we could do better.

So we were happy with second place

in that it was what we felt we deserved.

(quiet music)

- Did we really deserve second place?

It was a tight run.

Let's not kid ourselves.

I think second was a great placing.

It was a great opportunity for Canada

to get some respect in the kitchens

of The Bocuse d'Or competition.

- Placing on the podium,
getting the silver Bocuse statue

in Mexico was amazing.

It was such a wonderful feeling.

And to know that we put
in all that hard work

and for it to pay off

and ultimately our ticket
to the final in Lyon,

that's the big prize. (applause)

(quiet music)

- Now that Mexico is done

and sort of our warmup round

has been completed,

now it's eye on the prize.

We came out of that with
so much more knowledge

and experience under our belt.

I can't imagine going to France

without having done that.

The team dynamic has only gotten stronger.

We're all looking towards that same thing.

Trying to figure out what
we need to do differently.

How we can be a better team,

produce better food, what that means.

Based on what we saw in Mexico,

what we heard from judges,

and things that just sort
of clicked after we competed

we're able to figure out,

"Okay this is the direction
we need to go in."

- All these years, all this work.

Getting through the Nationals.

Getting through the Continental Selection.

Everything leading up to this moment.

(cheering)
- [Team] Canada, Canada!

Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada, Canada!

Canada, Canada, Canada!
(cheering)

(quiet music)

- [Trevor] There was no rest after Mexico

in preparation for Lyon.

We practiced pretty much every day.

We knew that it was coming.

We started to work on garnishes

and things like that.

- [Jenna] We all had the same mentality.

The real work starts now.

(team chattering)

- This is veal, we changed it.

We made massive changes yesterday.

Because they had to be done.

But that's how the veal is looking now.

I cooked the whole thing

on the bone. - On the bone.

- Obviously Thomas is also stressed.

You know it, you can feel it.

It needs to stop.

Because everyone's doing
their very, very best,

and I know you're trying your hardest.

We need to help you help us.

So we know we need you
guys to help us with

the colors, the lines so they match.

Carte Blanche, how you put it on.

- Right now I struggling
putting all these garnishes in.

Now we are adding more.

So for that yes, that's a negative point.

We are adding three odd objects.

We are adding two more garnishes.

All of them, - To lock it.

- We went with two directions.

One with the snow, a
platter full of snow idea.

The other one, the last
one that was we drew here,

the idea of a lake.

And we both think that both
of these are great designs

and great directions to go.

This is. (paper rustling)

Again these are not final.

We are supposed to have this next week.

We can work on the arrangement.

We can work on the
combination material finishes

and everything.

- Not to sound like a broken record

but we have to find a way to create drama.

My fear is that Norway comes out

with that platter and
again it's got all this

crazy stuff going on.

And you just can't help yourself

but like that one better.

- Because we're up against trying to do

something that no Canadian's ever done

is to get on the podium,

we gotta do funky, weird, interesting,

elevated art math.

It's almost like a three
dimensional platter.

Which I think is incredibly
challenging and difficult.

But it could be the way to go

in the modern version of Bocuse d'Or.

I don't know if we're there yet.

(serious music)

- Now we need a few days.
- We understand Trevor.

Trust me.
- Tuesday at the latest

I'll bring you, (serious music)

- When they decide they have to change

the foods in a way that
represents their work better,

I will follow.

Despite the fact that
it has made difficulties

for design and fabrication.

(serious music)

The only stress that concerns me

was that I meet the deadlines.

(serious music)

The challenges that we have here

first of all let me tell you

that these curves, hills,
uphills, downhills,

the only way that we
can achieve a good one

is to make them by hand.

- This feature what was
missing has been a wow, right.

That feature becomes very wow.

This piece, we have to think
of how it's impressive.

I think we're getting
there because we have,

we've framed it very beautifully.

- [Sean] I super-duper
like this moving curve.

- [Luigi] Yeah we've
framed it beautifully.

(serious music)

- [James] Okay, Team Canada. 20 minutes.

I'll watch you really close

and say you have a little
time, you have a little time.

You could do a little nicer things.

- It took me three hours.

Jenna has more work to do on the veal.

So I'm gonna take more work on the plate.

We'll both get it, shave at
least a half and hour at least.

- [John] So this where you're gonna be.

So we have to be just like the Americans.

The Americans, they have
to go faster, faster.

(serious music)

- Okay so I'm going to
put it here, like this.

- However you want, the presentation,

whatever you want. - Again.

That changes everything.

I remember you mentioned that everybody

would have difficulties with the veal.

- It's very challenging.

- So that's where all those questions,

- Yeah.
- That came up.

- Yeah. (serious music)

There were lots of challenges we faced

with synchronizing the
finalization of the platter

and the food.

You never want to compromise either.

But if the food is not set

then the platter is not set either.

So finding that, really
pushing on both ends,

to get the food and the platter

to be the best that it could possibly be,

it is a huge challenge.

(quiet music)

- Got that very clean and you don't have

the holes and the gap like that.

That the judge will nail you for big time.

- [Trevor] And you're
talking about the gap here?

- Yeah.
- Yeah.

The gap and the inside here.

- [James] And I know the
workmanship's there brother.

Don't, I see you work that.

And the fine brunoise and
you're adding tons of flavor.

And don't stop but I think you could maybe

simplify some of the
things that you're doing

and keep it a little bit cleaner

to get a better result.

We want you to be able to cook

as naturally as you can.

So the food is spectacular.

The moment you start nipping food

it stops tasting good.

Come one, let's be honest,

the most simple cooking techniques

are the best flavor.

That's why Bocuse is hard.

Because you, they ask you

to cook spectacular food in a modern way,

but you have to keep those
proper techniques going

without tweaks destroying them.

And it's hard, because I know
you hearts and love's in this.

And we're not trying to destroy it.

We want you sit in the
podium brother, okay.

You gotta look at this this
way guys, 10 years from now,

20 years from now, when you think,

"I went to Bocuse d'Or, did I
take every risk I could take?"

If you do really good work

and you came 11th, 12th,
is that going to give you

the same feeling.

Or "I cooked, I kicked some ass that day.

"They tasted something
they didn't taste before."

(quiet music)

- I'm, I don't agree with that.

Very frankly. - Yeah.

It's just not feeling elegant.

- I get your point.

And you talk about from
Chef's perspective.

But design elements are things

that comes from psychology of all people.

Not only designers.

It's not something that we create

or we say, "They should be like that."

- [James] It's like when
Trevor put the platter,

it was absolutely perfect.

That was perfect, now to
abstract a little more,

so I'm with you guys.

But there's no where a platter was empty.

All this empty space, I
would look at and say,

"They didn't figure it out."

That's what I see, when I see that.

They didn't figure it out.

And I'd dismiss the platter.

- This was all too crunched.

We were feeling.

So maybe we need to de-crunch it?

But to jump to that other thing,

to me that other thing
is a losing platter.

(serious music)

That's not a platter
that I would go, "Wow."

It would be the opposite.

I'd look at it and say,

"Did they just throw it all on there?"

(serious music)

- The constant change made it difficult

for a design to finally be nailed down.

Being on this team meant
never settling for anything.

So everyone involved was sort of aware

that we were going to keep pushing,

we were going to keep changing things.

(serious music)

- Sean is at the end of the rope.

And realistically, for a reason too.

Because he realizes we
only have five, six weeks

to make this tray.

So I'm hoping that we decide something.

Because otherwise I don't think he feels

that he can make it.

So what we did is we sat there last night

and we tried to
incorporate the ideas that,

'cause we were all over the place,

and so I sat with Sean and
we went through it and,

'cause he thought we had
to throw everything out.

And I said, "No Sean."

And he was really worried about

can we even make it in time.

And if we're gonna redesign too much.

I said, "No, I think we just

"have to incorporate some of the key ideas

"that you guys had."

- I'm not gonna lie, I agree on the one

you guys all like, but
I still like this too.

To me anyone of these is good.

- Jenna if you had to decide today?

- This one.
- Well I think Sean's gonna be

- Relieved?
- Relieved and grateful.

Because I do think it it's a big challenge

over the next month, to
be able to realize this.

(serious music)

- As a team, I try to support the chef.

I was confident in what we were doing.

I just didn't want to deliver something

with low quality.

(quiet music)

- There was not limit really to how much

we could change the food.

We decided on ingredients

and flavors, maybe
techniques we wanted to show.

But rounding each of that,

everything was still
sort of up in the air.

We'd work on 20 concepts,

maybe two would make it to the next round.

There was that constant desire

for all of our food to be perfect.

And because that perfection
really doesn't exist

that you just keep pushing
for a higher standard.

And there was no settling
on what we were doing.

(quiet music)

- I like the idea of a
pressed dill, like dehydrated.

If we put some weight on it

so we had a flat piece
that sat right on top.

So it's like fanned out
but flat and crispy almost.

- I had help from external sources,

shops and internal helpers as well.

(machine whirring)

- As you can see here

it's like a rolling list
of the geometry surface.

So there's 85,000 lines of dimension.

And we're at 53 now.

(machine whirring)

(cheering) Beautiful!

(quiet music)

Beautiful! - Good.

(intense music)

- I used the common area of Maker Lab

at the school and students
are using the same space.

We ran into a little bit of conflict.

(laughs) With each other.

When I was doing the final
coating on the platter

and left it to get dry
and put all the signs,

"Please do not touch."

Then after one hour, I went
back to check on the work

and I noticed that
students, unfortunately,

sprayed glue on all the platter, (laughs)

so next two, three days
was me sanding down

the whole platter (laughing)

and re coating it all over again.

- Changing the food is an ongoing process.

There are always things
that can be improved.

And things that don't simply work.

That's probably the biggest
challenge in The Bocuse d'Or

is committing to a garnish.

And just because you nailed it last week,

doesn't meant you're
not gonna have problems

the following week.

Because food is so different.

Products are changing all the time.

There may be a product
that's available last week

that's not available this week.

Also the flavor is changing constantly.

So to fully commit to something

is very challenging.

And it's something that really happens

all most right up until the end.

(intense music)

We wanted to use Canadian ingredients

to show Canada in its best light.

We're looking at things that our farmers

are really well known for,
some foraged ingredients.

- [Jenna] We had a carrot

that was cooked in veal bone marrow fat.

A pea mosaic which was a
slice of braised artichoke

with an oxtail gelee and
then a veal liver mousse,

a pickled pearl onion.

And then we served a crispy sweetbread

which was essentially blanched sweetbreads

bound with mushroom mousse

and then breaded, and fried, and sliced.

- [Sean] I did sacrifice a lot.

I was here working on the platter

almost non-stop for the holidays.

Without that we wouldn't
have had the platter.

- [Jenna] On our Chartreuse
plate we were working with

what would have been seasonal
in Canada at the time.

We had to use vegetables
from the Metro Market.

If you're looking at winter in Canada,

we'd be using root vegetables.

We'd be using beets, parsnips, radishes.

We wanted to bring that story with us

and represent seasonality of our produce.

(upbeat music)

- [Trevor] For the fish plate we did

a roasted parsnip with
chestnut and mushroom.

- [Jenna] We had a broccoli
and kohlrabi garnish.

- [Trevor] Pickled beetroot
with ice wine and horseradish.

Vegetable and shellfish chartreuse

with potato, root vegetables and egg yolk.

- You're working better today

than you did two practices ago.

So long as you know the
program, you're fine.

10 minuets to go okay.

(serious music)

Okay you 10 minutes Team
Canada, you have 10.

You have time, like perfect.

So 45 seconds Team Canada.

(serious music)

- [Trevor] Okay, you guys
need to start grabbing plates.

(quiet music)

It's nice with the beet and the parsnips.

- It's good, very good.

- Even if they hand over
the chartreuse somehow,

- The beetroot is good, right.

It smells, it's good.

(quiet music)

(chattering)

(announcer over PA
speaking foreign language)

- We were all expecting to fly out

on the same flight.

And Sean was not there with us

when we checked in, when
we got through security,

when we're at the gate.

And we start to suspect that
something's not going right.

- Getting talked to by customs.

This platter's beautiful they say.

- When we didn't see Sean at the airport

it was stressful.

There he is.
- No that's not Sean.

- When we were supposed to fly to France

with the rest of the team members,

we got to the airport and I noticed

that the manager at the counter

is trying somehow to refuse
to accept the platter

without giving any reason.

(serious music)

- I got some calls from the airport.

And it was almost, "Mayday,
mayday, mayday, distress here!

"Sean's not got on the
plane with the platter!"

And I was like, "Holy smokes!"

And everyone was like,
"What do we do next."

And no one anticipated this.

This was like, "Sean wasn't
going to make it the plane."

(announcer over PA)

- They refused the platter
so I went back home.

- [Announcer] Final boarding
call for flight Air France 351

service to Paris, all passengers

are asked to proceed
immediately to gate B29.

(serious music)

(wind whooshing)

(crowd murmuring)

- Bonjour. (serious music)

- We stayed in a little
private school in Balan,

maybe 20 minutes away from Lyon

where the competition is held.

(chattering)

- Oh this is older than,

it's a beautiful old building

with a lot of history.

I believe it's older than Canada actually.

Watch your head when you come up.

- It was very bare bones.

It was kind of cool actually.

It was an old building in
this quiet town in France.

And you just don't have
places like that here.

So I was sort of enamored by it actually.

But it did come with its difficulties.

We didn't have keys for all of the rooms

for the first two days.

We didn't have wi-fi,
they forgot to feed us

for the first couple of day as well,

until we took it upon ourselves
to cook our own meals.

- The showers were either freezing cold

or boiling hot, that's what you got.

(water splashing)

- Six o'clock in the morning,

half past five in the morning,

you're goin' for a shower,
you want some hot water,

and you get a cold stuff
all over your head.

It's not very good.

- At the end of the day we
had a kitchen to train in,

we had space to keep our
stuff and get organized,

and we had beds to sleep in.

So pretty much that
was all that we needed.

We just focused on our task at hand.

We weren't concerned about the fact

that we were sort of on this island

in the middle of a rural town in France.

(children chattering)

- We're a little bit behind the eightball

and we need to pick up the pace.

We hadn't got an opportunity to work

with all the products.

And we hadn't had a chance to
put the food on the platter.

So that was a major challenge.

(quiet music)

- Ah, yay!
(trolley wheels clacking)

Welcome, welcome, good job.

(serious music)

- Hopefully everything is okay.

And everything is in place.

Nothing's broken.

And we're good to go.

(serious music)

- I had this feeling something happened

it's this huge platter.

We're trying to get on an aircraft.

It's difficult to explain.

(serious music)

- Hello!
- Finally!

- Welcome Sean.
- Thank you.

- You made it.
- Yeah.

- The platter is safe and sound?

- Yep.
- Oh.

- [Trevor] This weird, custom metal piece

with wires and all these things.

(serious music)

I had a feeling that he would get there

and of course he did.

(serious music)

- So this is the kitchen.
- Okay.

Hey Jenna! (laughing)

- Welcome, you made it.

- You made it.
- You had a heart attack

I heard. - No I knew

you'd come through. (laughing)

(thudding)

- The inspiration for the new platter

actually was in the previous platter.

The platter we used in Mexico,

in fact depicted the same scenery

in the Canadian landscape

and we depicted a lake
for the platter in Mexico

and imagined now that it's winter,

it's full of snow.

(quiet music)

- [Trevor] We really wanted to capture

walking into a farm in
the winter in Canada.

Ooh! - Ooh!

- Wow! (gasping in delight)

- Wow.
- Wow.

- Gosh, you can see our food on it.

- It's not strong enough.
- It's not strong enough.

- It's not, okay.

- And when the food goes on

I think it's gonna totally look

amazing and different.

- Definitely unique.
- Yes.

- I feel like I'm on a winter farm.

- This is by far our best
platter we've ever had, by far.

- Yeah I think so.
- I don't think

anyone's come close.

- It is beautiful, that's
a good way to describe it.

(snoring)

(bells ringing)

(exhaust hood whirring)

(dremel whining)

(food sizzling)

(person whistling)

- Until you go there and
you test the products

they're just different a lot of proteins,

the vegetables.

So we had to make some adjustments there

and then we, when we
actually got to put the food

on to the platter,

that's when we started
to notice some things

that needed to be tweaked.

We had a few long nights there

dealing with certain changes in the menu.

(serious music)

- When we suddenly saw
that we had three garnishes

that had white and green on them

plus an orange carrot on the outside.

It was this moment of, "Okay
we need to change this.

"What are we gonna do?

"We have five days until we compete.

"What, what can we do to push all of this

"to the level we want it to be at?"

(serious music)

Nick built these incredible, inedible,

foraged decorations to
also go on the platter

to fill it out a little bit more.

Those were things we didn't know we needed

to get done in France.

But obviously there
were going to be changes

that needed to be made.

We just didn't know what they were

until we got there.

(serious music)

- And even like this is rough.

Like it's not perfect.

We have to literally
find the perfect ones.

- The only question I have is

when you put the chartreuse
down, then you wanna

put the flowers on? - Yeah.

At the last second possible.
- Okay.

(serious music)

- [Trevor] These are
strong, strong on their own.

Powerful and these are, - Okay.

This is complete. - Yes.

- These are complete, these.

Yeah, you're right it's not complete.

[Trevor] It's interesting eh?

But it should be complete.

I know it's late now,

but something metal or something that like

comes up like a spiral behind it or,

- Team asked me to change

a few things on the platter

while we were down in Lyon.

It was very challenging.

It took a lot of time.

I stayed up til one a.m., two a.m.

for several days.

- Normally what happens is

you have the game plan

it's scripted before
you're even on the plane.

The last night the game plan
was still being perfected.

Nick for instance was out
getting some wild grass.

So this was like right up
until the very, very end.

Sean was perfecting the platter.

There was a lot of
problems with the platter,

trying to solve.

And I would have said, really the platter

wasn't finished until the next morning

before it left for the show in Lyon.

So this was right up until the wire.

This was like the checkered flag,

it was almost ready to be dropped,

and the platter was finished, amen.

(serious music)

(speaking foreign language)

- When we arrived at the competition

the first thing you have to do

is set up the kitchen.

Which is nerve wracking.

It's a kitchen that you've
never been in before

so you're assuming that things

are gonna fit a certain way

and the spacing is gonna be a certain way

but there's logistical challenges

when you're setting up that are stressful.

(quiet music)

It was really quite a
experience going up against

Robert Sulatycky, even
though he was a coach.

I just remember as a kid watching him

compete for Canada.

That was a cool moment.

- [Announcer] One, go.
(intense music)

(applause) (cheering)

Cooking in the final in
Lyon was much more grand.

A lot more people there.

I felt a great amount of support there.

We had almost a 100 Canadians
up in the cheering stands.

Canadian flags waving like crazy.

(cheering)

- You gotta cook!

- Yes chef.
- One minutes time.

(serious music)

(cheering)

- Nothing can prepare you for the noise.

It's difficult to hear
what somebody's saying

five feet in front of you.

It's that loud in there.

Bright lights and the unfamiliar kitchen,

pretty nerve wracking.

(horns blaring)

(cheering)

- [Announcer] Thank you Team U.K.

(horns blaring) (people yelling)

(horns blaring)

(mallet thumping)

(serious music)

- My station, half an
hour into the contest,

my power was gone.

We had a couple technicians come in,

try and fix it.
- Your team disconnect

this. - It doesn't work?

- You have plug?
- All right.

- Big plug?
- Right.

- If you have, I can reconnect.

(serious music)

- Trevor didn't have
any power on his station

aside from the burners so any time

he needed to use a blender,

food processor, he needed
to come over to my station.

(serious music)

Then the vacuum sealer behind me

at one point stopped working

because the power had shut off there.

(serious music)

Someone from the competition

came in to ask if I wanted it fixed

but I needed it fixed yesterday.

So we made it work.

- No worries, you're doing great man.

(serious music)

(cheering)

(horns blaring)

(cheering)

(serious music)

(cheering)

(announcer speaking foreign language)

(cheering)

(announcer speaking foreign language)

(Paul speaking foreign
language on display)

- Doing the competition without having

Paul Bocuse around was unusual.

I remember going to the competition

years back and seeing him there.

But it was sad that he wasn't there.

(somber music)

- It was sad, but you know something,

he's still alive, the
competition is Paul Bocuse.

And there was so many chefs

that came from all over the world

and really appreciate what you've done

and what he has done for the profession.

He wasn't there in the flesh

but he definitely was there in spirit.

(applause) (cheering)

- This is the first edition

with out my father.

And yes it was a lot of emotion.

But just the fact that you're here

all of you, the supporter, the chef,

the candidate, showing what you did

during the last two days

was the best tribute you
could have done to my father.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you.

(applause) (cheering)

(uplifting music)

(cheering)

- Seeing the platter,
seeing all of our food on it

just before putting it out

was very exciting, that
was really the first time

that we had seen it in that setting

with the atmosphere around us.

But at the same time it was just like,

"Get all the food on,
you need to pass it off.

"Because you need them to pass it

"so that we can go to
the station and carve."

There was always something
else to worry about.

So we looked at it, did a
final sweep of the whole thing

to make sure we were happy with it.

And then we sent it off.

It was such a fleeting moment.

(upbeat music)
(announcer chatting)

(applause) (cheering)

- The platter was past you like

a TGV train, it just flies past you.

You wanna see the platters,

you wanna see the quality,

'cause you wanna have an opinion

on the results of the final five or ten

countries at the end.
(audience cheering)

But you don't get much time.

I wish you could take longer.

But you know something, the
food has to be served hot.

- The feeling when the platter went up

and it was about to go to the judges

was pretty incredible.

We were really happy about it.

Regis Marcon, the announcer, right away

said he wanted to put his thoughts in

on what he saw.

He described it as when
you're flying over Canada

and you're about to land

and you see all of the
fields with the frozen wheat

and it looked as if you were
flying over the prairies.

- [Narrator] At the last minute.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

I should say I'm very hungry.

(speaking foreign language)

(cheering)

- Ladies and gentleman

these are our 24 nations
that have been competing

here over the past two days
at The Bocuse d'Or 2019.

(quiet music)

(audience applauding)

Are just preparing to give out the prize

for the Bocuse bronze.

- [Trevor] This is the moment

that everybody's been waiting for.

(serious music)

Bronze calls and it's Norway.

(quiet music)

Amazing job, everybody's
super excited for them.

It's always nerve wracking.

I'm sure everybody is
sitting there sweating

in their boots.

It's actually a bit
little more nerve wracking

than competition itself in some ways.

- Shall we be giving out silver?

(quiet music)

- [Trevor] Sweden came in at
second, no surprises there.

A strong team, strong
foundation, good food.

(quiet music)

The level of competition is incredible.

The depth of experience and infrastructure

of some of the teams is remarkable.

- [Announcer] The Bocuse d'Or this year.

We need a lot help for
this magnificent moment.

(suspenseful music)

- Who can it be?

(suspenseful music)

- Denmark! (cheering)

(applause) (upbeat music)

- How did I feel when
the results got read out?

Empty, sad, sad not for me,

I felt sad for the team.

I felt sad for everyone who
helped us along the way.

I really wanted top 10.

- We were expecting higher.

It was a kind of general feeling.

We're super proud.

We're a young organization.

We did everything we possibly could.

So there no regrets and
among anybody on the team.

- It would have been great to,

to see us ranking higher.

We aimed for the podium.

And if hadn't aimed for the podium

then we would have ranked lower anyways.

- Everything that leads
up to success is hard.

It's about the challenge that gets ya

to where you wanna go.

- I was very, very, very disappointed.

There was no feedback given

to any of the countries.

We can't excel at
something you don't know.

It's like hittin' a wall all the time.

Someone's put an obstacle in front of you

and these other teams are so far ahead

you're never gonna catch up.

Well you know somethin'
it's one competition.

But the most important thing now

is we get up and we get
ready for the next one.

(quiet music)

- I started on this journey

training for The Bocuse d'Or,

working at George Brown College

with the students everyday.

It's something that I absolutely love.

And taking such a big chunk of time

was a sacrifice on its own

because I really do love my job.

I'm so happy to be back.

Being able to translate some of the things

that I've learned through this journey

has taken some time to reflect

and think about how can this experience

value to students

and the biggest thing that I've learned

and that I can share with them

is to really follow your dream.

And have great goals.

And shoot for the starts.

Even though we didn't make the podium

which is what we always set out to do

we were very determined in that,

it's not necessarily a failure.

You're only considered a failure

if you don't get up.

As long as you keep pushing forward

and you're looking toward the next thing

and you become a better
chef and a better person,

I think that's what it's all about.

(quiet music)

- The Bocuse d'Or competition.

Which is a huge thing.

It was very exciting.

We are going to watch
Canada's top culinary talent

face off against one another

right here on the stage

for a chance to represent Canada

at what is the most
prestigious gastronomic contest

in the entire world.

(intense music)

(applause) (cheering)

- I was chosen to be a judge

on the new national selection.

It was a logical decision.

I had just been there.

I had some idea of what
they're looking for.

I had gone through the process.

I can look at chefs

and see where the strengths
and weaknesses are.

Particularly towards Bocuse d'Or.

(upbeat music)

- [Announcer] Three minutes grace period

to finish up, and it looks
like he's almost there.

It felt a little bit strange
to be on the other side

of the table for the tasting
of the next Canadian Selection.

But it felt great to see

some other chefs that were excited

about competing in The Bocuse d'Or.

I was looking for the chef

that had potential and really wanted it.

- Samuel Sirois. (cheering)

(applause)

- I really hope that I have laid

some ground work for the next
candidate and future teams,

that we've inspired other Canadian chefs

to compete at this level.

It's very important for us.

We wanted to make sure

that we weren't in it just
for this two-year period.

Because we know that in order for us

to really move up the ranks

we have to build the team,

but also nurture what
we've already worked on.

(whooping)

(quiet music)

- It was so demanding
and so all consuming.

I'm so grateful to be a part of it.

Every time I came to train here

and work with this team of people

I was learning something new.

And I was so grateful
for that opportunity.

My dream was always to learn

as much as I could

and Bocuse d'Or was a wonderful way

for me to start that journey.

- Paul Bocuse has left
an extraordinary legacy

for the culinary arts.

He's a chef that everybody respects.

The reason we can be thankful for him

is that he was the one

that wanted the chefs to
get out of the kitchen

and put them in the spotlight.

- Paul Bocuse was one of my heroes.

If he was here today I would just like to,

I'd give him a big hug actually.

And I'm not a huggie person.

I'd give him a big hug and say,

"Thank you for doing this."

And for him to put the
time and the effort.

- If he was still here I
would say, "Merci Chef.

"Thank you for making
this amazing competition

"and for inspiring me and my team.

"It's truly an honor to meet you."

- Thank you Mr. Paul.

There is so much you could say,

but the biggest thing is thank you.

Just because he ignited
this force of gastronomy

around the world and created this stage

for chefs to tested on.

And brought us out into the spotlight

rather than just in the
depths of the kitchen so,

there's nothing else to say but thank you.

(peaceful music)

(light switch clicking)

(upbeat music)