Tom Phillips finishes fifth with Team UK at Bocuse d’Or 2025

The Staff Canteen

The Staff Canteen

Editor 28th January 2025
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Team UK, led by candidate Tom Phillips of Restaurant Story, achieved fifth place in the Bocuse d’Or in Lyon.

Competing against 23 other national teams for a place on the podium at the 20th anniversary of the contest, Tom had the support of commis chef Harry van Lierop, who works at The Ledbury.

Team France took gold, with candidate Paul Marcon winning 30 years after his father Régis Marcon. France also won the best commis prize.

Team Denmark, led by Sebastian Holbert Svendsgaard, won silver, with Sweden taking bronze. Norway were in fourth.

Bocuse d’Or Team UK also comprised of president Clare Smyth, chef owner of three-Michelin-starred Core by Clare Smyth and Oncore in Sydney, and coach Ian Musgrave of The Ritz.

To celebrate the 20th edition of the Bocuse d’Or world final, this year’s themes paid homage to the competition’s founder, the late, legendary chef Paul Bocuse, whose cuisine was heavily influenced by his love for local produce, game and creating refined dishes.

The candidates were encouraged to celebrate authentic cuisine, where cooking and technique reign supreme, and where the whole product is an integral part of the recipe.

The candidates and their commis chefs presented two platters. The first platter of stone bass, served with lobster and warm lobster sabayon and the celery root and stalk had to be portioned and presented on 16 plates within just six minutes of the platter being returned to the kitchen.  

The brief for the main was to showcase French venison which had to be served with foie gras and a tea-infused consommé. 

Each team had five hours 30 minutes to prepare, present and serve both platters. Team UK were the first team to compete, and the Stone bass platter was served at 12.25pm on Sunday, January 26.

Clare, who sat on the jury for the venison theme, said: “I’m so proud of the team. They did the UK proud and we keep getting better all the time.

“Fifth is something to be incredibly proud of. Harry has been absolutely phenomenal, it’s been a highlight of this competition to watch this young man grow.”

It marks a big jump up for Tom and the team, having placed 10th in 2019.

Honorary president at the event at British chef Daniel Calvert, who holds three Michelin stars in Tokyo with restaurant SÉZANNE.

The UK’s menu was as follows –

A Walk in the woods - The revival of Britain’s woodlands and orchards 

For the platter 

Roast daddle of roe deer with venison blood pudding. Brushed in a traditional 'Pontack' glaze

Venison loins wrapped in soft aromatic herbs

‘Top table Pie’

Venison shoulder and foie gras, crisp short crust pastry filled with macerated prunes and wild mushrooms from the New Forest

National tribute garnish - ‘Orchard pear drop’

Baked late season red Williams pears, preserved English cherry and woodland berries

The Sauce 

Morel mushroom and Madeira blanquette

Consommé Tea

Warming Roe deer consommé infused with 'Fujisan Souchong' tea

Garnished with a ravioli filled with sweet chestnut, British grown root vegetables, garden thyme and chive buds

Coast to coast 

For the plate 

Stone bass highlighted with Brittany Lobster poached in an aromatic brown butter flavoured with spice of angels and lemon thyme

Celeriac en croute

Celeriac baked in Maldon salt from The River Blackwater in Essex, England

Encased in a shortcrust pastry and filled with a sweet chestnut stuffing

Celery branch

English walnut and fresh horseradish “salad”, celeriac cream with a Cornish seaweed pearl condiment

The Sauces

Lobster Sabayon

Aerated with Clarence Court Burford Brown hen's eggs. 

Seaweed Butter Sauce

“Fen Farm” Butter sauce infused with kelp and finished with dulse seaweed from the Welsh coast

Also in Lyon, Team UK placed ninth in the Pastry World Cup.

The team of Wallace Cheuk Yin Li, of The Dorchester Hotel, Rémy Pugeot, from The Raffles at The Owo, and Glen Iain Snowball-Sharman, who works at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons in Oxford, competed against 17 other nations.

They finished between Singapore and Argentina in the final standings.

Japan, with a team of Masanaori Hata, Yuji Matoba and Ryu Miyazaki, took the title, with France and Malaysia also on the podium.

It marks the second time in a row in which they have won the Pastry World Cup, UK having finished fourth back in 2023.

(Pics by Jodi Hinds and Nicolas Reynaud)

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