After thousands of hours of preparation, the competition day was at hand. The suspense began the second Peters and Turone began their well-choreographed dance at 8:40AM on the second day of the competition. They were guided minute-by-minute by Tessier, who remained perched outside the kitchen firing almost telepathic guidance.
“It’s kind of like squash,” says Ming Tsai, who’s been involved with Bocuse fundraising and support efforts since the Foundation started, about the hours of cooking.
The only time the noise level seems to diminish during the Bocuse d’Or is when a Crucial Detail platter makes the rounds. Martin Kastner of the Chicago design firm famous for creating the serviceware at Alinea was asked to design Team USA’s meat platter in 2015. When it was presented, a hush fell over the grandstands. “I remember thinking this is either really good or really bad,” Kastner recalls. The response proved positive; Tessier’s platter took top prize for the meat course.
