After competing against three other finalists, Richard Rosendale emerged as the winner of the Bocuse d’Or USA culinary competition. Rosendale will go on to represent the U.S. in the international Bocuse d’Or competition in Lyons, France, next year.
Rosendale is the executive chef of The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va., where he specializes in serving classic dishes with impeccable presentation. The Pennsylvania native has trained extensively in Europe and in 2010 was awarded the title of Certified Master Chef. He returned to Bocuse d’Or USA this year after taking second place in 2008.
The other finalists — Bill Bradley, Danny Cerqueda and Jeffrey Lizotte — also boast impressive culinary backgrounds. Bradley is a chef instructor at Massachusetts’ prestigious Le Cordon Bleu; Cerqueda works as an executive sous chef at the Carolina Country Club in Raleigh, N.C.; and Lizotte is a chef at ON2O in Hartford, Conn.
The Bocuse d’Or competition was founded in 1987 by legendary French chef Paul Bocuse. The U.S. has been represented at Bocuse d’Or since the 1980s, but it was not until 2009 that the Bocuse d’Or USA Foundation was established, with the goal of nurturing U.S. culinary talent and emphasizing the importance of competing internationally. Paul Bocuse’s son, Jerome, serves as vice president of the foundation’s board of directors. The younger Bocuse is a graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in New York, where the competition is held each year. The CIA recently named Bocuse Alumnus of the Year during an event in which the school named his father Chef of the Century.
Although an American has never won Bocuse d’Or, Jerome Bocuse is confident that a victory is near for the U.S. “You will see an American chef on the podium [as the winner] in Lyon very soon,” he said.
Gavin Kaysen, who is charge of training Rosendale for the January 2013 competition, was the U.S. representative at the 2007 Bocuse d’Or, where he came in 14th. Also assisting with Rosendale’s training are renowned chefs Grant Achatz and Gabriel Kreuther. “The training process … it’s kind of crazy … You’re putting everything into the game, and you’re surrounded by people that coach you, that judge you, that push you to extreme boundaries,” Kreuther told The Wall Street Journal, comparing the intense training to that of a top athlete.
The next regional Bocuse d’Or competition will be Bocuse d’Or Europe, scheduled March 20 and 21 in Brussels. Twelve European finalists will be selected from 20 competing nations.