France wins the Bocuse d’Or!

Internationally-acknowledged chef Paul Bocuse imagined in 1987 a global competition for chefs that “breaks the codes of the moment”, says the website dedicated to the event. Today, more than just a culinary competition, the Bocuse d’Or has become “a laboratory of excellence, an incubator of talents where commitment, passion, technique, and creativity reveal the greatest chefs”. It is “a unique springboard for those who wish to achieve international recognition”. 

A young chef with his own culinary identity

 Now a must-attend international gastronomy event, the Bocuse d’Or reveals each year the changes and trends of global cuisine, driven by new generations of great chefs.  The contest has turned into “the favourite place for many countries to promote their cuisine, their terroir, and their chefs”.

This year, the Bocuse d’or went to Paul Marcon, a chef from the Auvergne region who managed to beat his Danish and Swedish competitors. “He fell into a cauldron when he was a little boy”, says the website dedicated to the 29 years-old Auvergne chef, who indeed won the greatest culinary award 33 years after his father, Régis Marcon, three-stars from Saint-Bonnet-Le-Froid (Haute-Loire region), with whom he came back to work in 2023 after a stay in Sweden. In this experience, “he discovered Scandinavian gastronomy and identified better his own culinary identity”.

The 24 candidates of the Grand finale of the Bocuse d’or had over five hours to best their competitors with two iconic trials and showcase their talent and the culinary specificity of their country of origin. In practical terms, they to cook two dishes: a “plate” using celery, lean meats and lobster, which were a tribute to the culinary traditions of the candidate’s country, and a “platter” including one dish and three side dishes based on venison, foie gras and tea!

A commis who’s a female commis

The Bocuse d’Or 2025 saw France achieve the first father and son double of the history of the competition. But though “a new dynasty” was born in the world of gastronomy, Paul Marcon was not the only one crowned during the competition. As he declared after the contest: “This is not just my victory, it’s the work from a whole team who has been by my side for months! ”.

Indeed, his commis (the term is masculine regardless of the person’s gender in French!), Camille Pigot won the “Best Commis” award of the Bocuse d’Or 2025. The young commis studied at Ferrandi gastronomy school, which “trains the elite of gastronomy and hotel management, players of a new era, in France and internationally”.

Who was Paul Bocuse?

The Bocuse d’or competition draws its name from its founder, prestigious Lyon chef Paul Bocuse, deceased in 2018 at 91 years old, an “icon of French cuisine”, but also an international figure.

Bocuse was considered one of the greatest chefs of the 20^th century. He came from a long family line of cooks, and held three stars from the Michelin guide for 53 years, from 1965 to his death in 2018! It was Paul Bocuse who took chefs out of their kitchen and contributed to the media exposure of chefs and gastronomy in general. He was both a pioneer of the “new cuisine” and a craftsman of “traditional cuisine”. After his death, French president Macron paid a tribute to a man who was “the embodiment of French cuisine”, whose name “encapsulated French cuisine in all of its generosity, respect of traditions, but also sense of innovation”.

Explore more: 

- Bocuse d’or official website

- Ferrandi School