The countdown begins

Well, the countdown has well and truly begun - in less than two weeks we’ll be in Lyon, hours away from the biggest professional challenge of our lives!

Despite spending the last few months in the Bocuse d’Or kitchen, there is nothing that can really prepare us for the finals on the 30th of this month.  The closest we’ve ever been were the European finals in Brussels, where we really enjoyed the buzz, we’re hoping that Lyon will offer more of the same.

Jodi Hinds, the official Bocuse d’Or UK photographer spent the day with us on Monday, taking photos for the menu.  She has a fantastic eye for food and really helps to show off each of the garnishes to their full potential.  However, these are the only teasers I’m happy to show for the time being....

This week we kick off the invited run throughs at University College Birmingham, where we’re inviting supporters to come along to see and taste my menu.  We have a few places left so if you’d like to join us please contact Julie Kendall.

A shout out for the team

Over the last few weeks I’ve been spending most of my free time in the Bocuse d’Or kitchen, experimenting with different cooking techniques for the Irish beef.  It’s fantastic to have the facilities to take myself away and focus purely on the competition and I can’t thank UCB and all the companies which donated equipment enough for making the kitchen happen.

This week, I’ll be working in a very different kind of kitchen, that of Régis Marcon, joint owner and founder of the three Michelin starred, Auberge et Clos des Cimes.   Régis won the Bocuse d’Or in 1995 and is still involved in the competition.  I have a huge amount of respect for Régis’ cooking and I’m really looking forward to working with his team.  Whilst I’m there I’m hoping to drop into Lyon and familiarise myself with the surroundings to help focus my mind and prepare myself for my greatest challenge yet.

Whilst it might be my greatest challenge, I certainly don’t feel like I’m going it alone as I have a great team behind me.  Andreas is allowing me three months off in order to prepare for the finals, the team at Simpsons are also a great support as are the staff and students at the college.  Kristian is going from strength to strength and is proving his competition through his performance in the Chef of the Year and Graduate Chef of the Year awards and it’s great to have the experience of Nick, Brian and John in the team.

Our next challenge is to raise the necessary funds to help us to make an impact in Lyon and to build a platform to help future competitors to succeed.  We’ll be holding a fundraising event at the UCB on November 23, please put the date in your diary if you’d like to show your support.

Back on the road to Lyon

As Brian Turner CBE has often said, ‘Nothing can prepare you for the Bocuse d’Or’ and he’s absolutely right. It is a contest like no other and I certainly hadn’t prepared for how the experience would affect me.

I went into the competition expecting to be overawed by five and a half hours of intense cooking but I actually really enjoyed it. Instead of hours of pressure, what I experienced was five and a half hours of pure, controlled adrenaline. I think that the fact that we now have a replica kitchen to practise in provided the additional comfort and I hope that future Bocuse d’Or candidates will benefit from this fantastic facility. I can’t thank UCB enough for their support with this.

Competing in Brussels and being judged by some of Europe’s best chefs, gave me a real buzz and I can understand why chefs like the current title-holder Rasmus Kofoed have returned time and time again. The heats helped me to mentally unlock my approach; cooking in the Bocuse d’Or is so far removed from cooking in a restaurant that you have to totally free your mind from the day job. Preparing for Brussels was difficult in that I struggled to get my head around what was required in terms of logistics and timings. Now I’ve experienced the heats I have a clearer idea for what we need to do for Lyon.

We also had the additional confidence boost of winning the special meat prize which came as a complete shock. I wasn’t listening out for our names at this point, which I think you can see from the photo.

Fortunately, my wife is very supportive of me taking part in the competition, as it does take over your personal life. She’ll be coming out to Lyon with our three year old daughter, which will be quite an experience I’m sure.

I’m also lucky to have a boss (Andreas Antona) who is 100% behind me taking part and is happy to give me time out of the Simpsons’ kitchen to prepare for the competition.

The Bocuse d’Or is not a level playing field and achieving success requires the support of a wider team. In the run up to Brussels, we had a great response from businesses who wanted to help our cause. I hope that everyone will join us in the next challenge, competing against the rest of the world in Lyon!