Chefs

Video: Grant Achatz and Richard Rosendale on the Bocuse d’Or

Chef Grant Achatz at Alinea.
Chef Grant Achatz at Alinea. Photo: Sky Full of Bacon

You could say that America has not been a standout in the Bocuse d’Or competition held every other year in Lyons, France. We’ve tended to be the nation-state equivalent of the seemingly formidable Top Chef contestant who goes home in week three for undercooking the lamb. But a group of top American chefs — such as Thomas Keller and Daniel Boulud — continue to put a lot of energy and resources behind changing that. And with the competition having grown more contemporary in outlook in recent years, they’re determined to help U.S. team captain Richard Rosendale (from the Greenbrier resort in West Virginia) take advantage of everything that’s happening on America’s culinary scene and show off the best of modern American cooking. As part of that, Rosendale is spending time at a number of America’s top restaurants, including the French Laundry in Napa, Daniel in New York, and Alinea in Chicago, working with their chefs on ideas for how to approach the contest. As Alinea’s Grant Achatz says, “When Thomas Keller calls, you don’t turn him down,” and so last week he showed Rosendale around his kitchen, his city, and not least of all Crucial Detail, the atelier where many of Alinea’s unique serving pieces are created. In our exclusive seven-minute video interview below, chefs Rosendale and Achatz talk about what the competition is like, how you prepare for it, and why it matters for American chefs to be part of the Bocuse d’Or.

Video: Grant Achatz and Richard Rosendale on the Bocuse d’Or