Richard Rosendale, executive chef of The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., will represent the United States at the biennial Bocuse d’Or chef competition in Lyon, France, Jan. 29–30, 2013, assisted by Corey Siegel, a junior apprentice at the property.
Rosendale and Siegel won the honor at a competition held Sunday at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y.
Also competing were Jeffrey Lizotte, chef de cuisine of ON20 in Hartford, Conn., assisted by Cornell Hotel School student Kevin Curley, who came in second; William Bradley, a chef–instructor at Le Cordon Bleu in Southboro, Mass., who came in third place with the assistance of Cordon Bleu graduate James Haibach; and Danny Cerqueda, executive sous chef of Carolina Country Club in Raleigh, N.C., assisted by Johnson & Wales student Marianne Elyse Warrick.
Curley, who suffered a knife injury during the competition, won the award for best commis, or assistant.
Each team had five-and-a-half hours to prepare dishes of cod and chicken for chefs to judge.
Rosendale, a certified master chef who has participated in 40 international competitions, and Siegal will spend the next year practicing for the prestigious international competition with the aid of coaches Gavin Kaysen, executive chef of Café Boulud in New York City; Gabriel Kreuther, executive chef of The Modern, in New York City; and Grant Achatz, executive chef of Alinea in Chicago.
The United States has not traditionally fared well in the Bocuse d’Or, never placing higher than sixth.
Chefs Daniel Boulud, Thomas Keller and Jerome Bocuse, son of competition founder Paul Bocuse, established the Bocuse d’Or USA foundation in 2008 to try to improve the performance and provide financial and structural support to the competitors.
The United States placed 10th at the last Bocuse d’Or, in 2009, and sixth in 2007.
This was the second time the finals were held at the Culinary Institute. Kitchens similar to those used in Lyon were installed in the student center, and bleachers were set up for the audience, who wielded cowbells to simulate the din of the Lyon competition. European electronic music similar to that aired in Lyon also was played.
The day before the Bocuse d’Or USA finals, an informal commis competition was held in the same setting to encourage younger chefs to become accustomed to the format.
Rose Weiss, a student at the International Culinary Center and an extern at Gramercy Tavern in New York, won that contest.
Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected].
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