Tracking the Bocuse d’Or: On meeting Paul Bocuse

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I never imagined that I would meet Paul Bocuse, the Paul Bocuse, who as a founder of nouvelle cuisine is regarded as one of the best chefs of the 20th century. Though he is now 82 years old (as Maury Rubin of City Bakery put it recently, ‘so much butter and cream in that man’), he is hale and hearty and no less revered. And the last thing I thought I’d ever do was make him angry.

Earlier this month, I observed French Laundry sous chef Timothy Hollingsworth train for the Bocuse d’Or culinary competition, which starts Tuesday in Lyon, France, and was founded by Bocuse in 1987. (Read more here.) Paul Bocuse (pictured in center) was in attendance too, along with his son, chef Jerome Bocuse (right), and chef-restaurateur Daniel Boulud (left).

At the end of the 5 1/2-hour training session, in which Hollingsworth prepared two elaborate platters of four beef dishes and four seafood dishes (just as he will at the competition in Lyon), everyone gathered around the food to taste it. Paul Bocuse, who doesn’t speak English, nudged me to try the bacon-wrapped beef, which was so tender you could cut it with a fork. I was trying to be very polite and had gently placed my fork on the beef to take a small bite when Paul Bocuse snatched it from my hand.

At that second, this flashed across my mind: ‘Oh my God, I’ve just offended Paul Bocuse. Something I did angered the greatest living French chef so much that he had to grab my fork from me. And my French is so bad that I don’t even know how to begin to apologize.’

It took me another second, but as I watched him cut into the beef with my fork, I realized that he wasn’t angry at all. He cut off a piece three times as big as the piece that I was about to take and handed it to me. And it dawned on me that he was being kind. It was a gesture of generosity. He didn’t have to do that; it wasn’t as if we were in a dining setting. The point of tasting was so that others could offer their critiques. Everyone was standing over the platters and fending for themselves -- there weren’t even enough forks to go around. Still, I guess he wanted to make sure I had enough to eat.

-- Betty Hallock