Cook off to choose next UK Bocuse d'Or candidate

Steve Love, chef consultant and former executive chef of Love's Restaurant, Christian Grebenstein of The Ritz in London and Anthony Wright, a chef lecturer at University College Birmingham will take part in the cook-off at Le Cordon Bleu Cookery School in Bloomsbury Square on 11 September. 

Each chef will have one and a half hours to prepare, cook and present three different hot garnishes to accompany a fillet of British beef from Aubrey Allen before judges, who include Brian Turner, decide who should represent the UK in the next round of the competition. 

The winner will go on to compete in the European heats of the Bocuse d'Or, which take place in Budapest on 11 and 12 May next year and where teams are selected to make it through to the international contest in Lyon in January 2017. 

Turner, Team UK president and chair of the national selection judges said: “To represent ones’ country in the world’s most prestigious cooking contest is among the greatest challenges to be undertaken by any chef. We have a promising line-up of candidates in this year’s cook off and with the right preparation there is nothing to stop any of them from representing the UK one day.  No one should under estimate how much thought, time and practice is required to compete successfully and the cook off is just the start of what will be a tough but hugely rewarding journey for the successful chef.”

The Bocuse d'Or is one of the most challenging chef competitions in the world. Previous UK candidates have incluced Andre Garrett of Cliveden House Hotel, Simon Hulstone of The Elephant in Torquay, and more recently Adam Bennett of The Cross in Kenilworth.