Show 209, February 4, 2017: Team USA Vice President Chef Gavin Kaysen, Spoon and Stable, Minneapolis

Gavin kaysenWe’ve been enthusiastically following Team USA’s progress (backed by the ment’or BKB Foundation) in the Bocuse d’Or International Culinary Competition for the last five years. Late last month Team USA achieved the impossible – Gold in Lyon. Team USA’s Coach Philip Tessier and Team USA Vice President Gavin Kaysen join us to savor this tremendous achievement for the culinary arts in the United States. Both are former competitors in the Bocuse d’Or themselves.

Kudos to Team USA’s Chef Mathew Peters and Commis Harrision Turone

USA’s Team USA Vice President, Gavin Kaysen, joins us now. He is the James Beard Award-winning Executive Chef/Proprietor of Spoon & Stable in Minneapolis. On the way is the new Bellecour, on downtown Wayzata’s (Minnesota) Lake Street. It’s a French bistro which is a tribute to his French chef mentors over the years including Daniel Boulud.

Chef Gavin competed previously in the Bocuse d’Or in 2007 when he was the Executive Chef of El Bizcocho (now closed) in San Diego. This was way before the support network for Team USA from ment’or BKB Foundation was in place. He was pretty much on his own

Kaysen knows Chef Paul Bocuse, and shares some wonderful stories. You’ll learn the inspiring reason of why the America flag flies at Chef Bocuse’s landmark restaurant in Lyon.

 

Show 114, March 14, 2015: Chef Gavin Kaysen, Spoon & Stable, Minneapolis Continued…

Gavin kaysenIn the words of Chef Gavin Kaysen: “This is the only industry where you can go out and have a great glass of Champagne and eat a great meal, and you’re learning.”

While working as Executive Chef at El Bizcocho in San Diego, he received a considerable amount of local acclaim, as well as being recognized nationally by being named one of Food + Wine Magazine’s Best New Chefs in 2007. While working as Chef de Cuisine at Café Boulud in New York City, Gavin was 2008 recipient of the James Beard Foundation’s coveted Rising Star Award.

In 2014 Gavin returned to his hometown of Minneapolis, Minnesota to open the highly anticipated restaurant Spoon & Stable. The restaurant has earned rave reviews from local media and patrons alike. It is described as a culinary destination for food lovers in search of casual elegant dining. Last month Spoon and Stable was announced as a semifinalist for Best New Restaurant by the James Beard Foundation Awards.