Ohio's Chef's Garden plays a part in Bocuse d'Or win

Team USA brought home their first ever gold medal at the 2017 Bocuse d"or competition in Lyon, France.

Culinary teams gathered from around the globe for the 30th anniversary of the cooking competition on Jan. 25. The USA team was led by Head Chef Matthew Peters and Commis Chef Harrison Turone, both from Thomas Keller's Per Se restaurant in New York City. Their winning dishes included their interpretation of chicken and crayfish plus, for the first time, a vegetal dish containing vegetables and fruits, legumes and grains. The Chef's Garden, a family farm in Huron, OH, provided the products for the team during their practice sessions and the competition in France. Team USA visited the farm during a fundraiser in July and hand-selected the products that were custom-grown for their plate designs.

"I'm not sure I can begin to express my pride of the extraordinarily talented and hardworking Team USA," Lee Jones of The Chef's Garden said. "They are an inspiration to all of us at The Chef's Garden and the Culinary Vegetable Institute, as well as to aspiring chefs and farmers everywhere, and we are honored o have played a supporting role in their journey. I also want to thank Chefs Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud and Jerome Bocuse for their strong leadership and I hope everyone can fully appreciate the importance of this win, of the United States being recognized as the best in the world."

Every other year, 60 countries choose their best chefs to represent their teams. Twenty-four countries make the finals, where they cook for five hours and d35 minutes. Team USA has participated in Bocuse d"or since 1987. Prior to 2015, when they placed second, they had never placed  higher than sixth.