Show 513, February 18, 2023: Team USA 2023 with Head Chef Jeffery Hayashi and Commis Franco Fugel, Bocuse d’Or Culinary Competition Part One

Jeffrey Hayashi is the head chef for the 2021 Bocuse D'Or

In late January Head Chef Jeffery Hayashi, Commis Franco Fugel and Head Coach Robert Sulatycky (Team USA 2023) represented their country at the world’s most prestigious cooking competition, The Bocuse d’Or International Culinary Competition in Lyon, France, where they competed in the most rigorous and celebrated cooking competition in the world.”

“Teams of some of the most brilliant culinary minds from 24 countries across the world gathered in Lyon, France, where they competed in the most rigorous and celebrated cooking competition in the world.”

“Team USA (supported by the Ment’or Foundation) competed on Monday, January 23rd and presented their platter “Postcard From Hawaii,” an homage to Chef Hayashi’s home. Their platter presentation contained the mandatory protein of monkfish, which was roasted and featured monkfish jus, ragout of mussels, hen egg custard and avocado green goddess. The platter presentations were designed by Martin Kastner of Crucial Detail, LLC. To further test each country’s creative abilities, each team developed a “Feed the Kids” menu, featuring a three-course meal highlighting pumpkin and egg as the main ingredients. Team USA artfully presented their menu, drawing inspiration from childhood fairy tales of “Cinderella,” “The Goose That Laid The Golden Eggs,” and “Snow White.””

Head Chef Jeffery Hayashi notes, “I am honored to have represented Team USA at this esteemed global culinary competition. I would not be here without the support of all the members of Team USA, but particularly that of my Commis, Franco Fugel and our Head Coach Robert Sulatycky. This was an opportunity of a lifetime for a chef and I will treasure this experience throughout my culinary journey.””

Ment’or is the non-profit organization that is responsible for recruiting, training and supporting Team USA.

Team USA placed outside of the medals round but their accomplishment in Lyon is still impressive. Our heartiest of congratulations for the extraordinary effort.

Team USA’s Head Chef Jeffery Hayashi and Commis Franco Fugel are our guests.

Show 513, February 18, 2023: Team USA 2023 with Head Chef Jeffery Hayashi and Commis Franco Fugel, Bocuse d’Or Culinary Competition Part Two

Commis Franco Fugel

In late January Head Chef Jeffery Hayashi, Commis Franco Fugel and Head Coach Robert Sulatycky (Team USA 2023) represented their country at the world’s most prestigious cooking competition, The Bocuse d’Or International Culinary Competition in Lyon, France, where they competed in the most rigorous and celebrated cooking competition in the world.”

“Team USA (supported by the Ment’or Foundation) competed on Monday, January 23rd and presented their platter “Postcard From Hawaii,” an homage to Chef Hayashi’s home. Their platter presentation contained the mandatory protein of monkfish, which was roasted and featured monkfish jus, ragout of mussels, hen egg custard and avocado green goddess. The platter presentations were designed by Martin Kastner of Crucial Detail, LLC. To further test each country’s creative abilities, each team developed a “Feed the Kids” menu, featuring a three-course meal highlighting pumpkin and egg as the main ingredients. Team USA artfully presented their menu, drawing inspiration from childhood fairy tales of “Cinderella,” “The Goose That Laid The Golden Eggs,” and “Snow White.””

Head Chef Jeffery Hayashi notes, “I am honored to have represented Team USA at this esteemed global culinary competition. I would not be here without the support of all the members of Team USA, but particularly that of my Commis, Franco Fugel and our Head Coach Robert Sulatycky. This was an opportunity of a lifetime for a chef and I will treasure this experience throughout my culinary journey.””

Ment’or is the non-profit organization that is responsible for recruiting, training and supporting Team USA.

Team USA’s Head Chef Jeffery Hayashi and Commis Franco Fugel continue as our guests.

Show 211, February 18, 2017: Chef Mathew Peters, Gold Medalist, Team USA, 2017 Bocuse d’Or International Culinary Competition

We’ve been enthusiastically following Team USA’s progress (backed by the ment’or BKB Foundation) in the bi-annual Bocuse d’Or International Culinary Competition for the last five years. Late last month Team USA achieved the impossible – Gold in Lyon.

Mathew Peters“On January 25, 2017, Team USA 2017 was the first American team to win Gold at the Bocuse d’Or! This is an extraordinary accomplishment and words cannot adequately express how proud we are of Chef Mathew Peters, Commis Harrison Turone and Head Coach Philip Tessier. This historic win would not have been possible without our designer, Martin Kastner, and his team from Crucial Detail. We would also like to extend our congratulations to all of the teams who competed this year – it was an incredible display of culinary excellence.” – Young Yun, Executive Director, ment’or BKB Foundation

Team USA’s Bocuse d’Or world champion, Chef Mathew Peters (ex-per se), joins us to savor this tremendous achievement for the culinary arts in the United States.

Next for Chef Matt is securing a site for his own dream restaurant. It’s very preliminary but it could possibly be Northern California or Austin, Texas. We’ll keep you posted.