Estonia will be represented at this year’s Bocuse d’Or competition by Artur Kazaritski, who currently works as a sous chef at the three Michelin-star restaurant Geranium in Copenhagen, under Bocuse d’Or’s three-time winner Rasmus Kofoed.
The jury for the Bocuse d’Or Europe is composed of chefs from all over the world who are tasked with tasting and judging the recipes meticulously prepared by the teams. The Tasting Jury will be in charge of tasting and assessing the recipe and theme prepared on a tray, also the recipe and theme prepared on a plate. They will mark the participants according to a set of criteria: taste, flavours, originality, presentation, etc. Tõnis Siigur, the head chef of NOA Restaurant is representing Estonia in the Tasting Jury.
A second jury, the ‘Kitchen Jury’, is responsible for ensuring the correct application of the contest rules and regulations and for assessing and marking the method and organization skills for both the chef and commis, in the kitchen and throughout the tests. From Estonia Vladislav Djatsuk from Tchaikovsky and Mon Repos Restaurant and Kaido Metsa from Restaurant Juur are selected in the Kitchen Jury.
Finally, there is also a ‘Table of Honour’, which is composed of the President of Honour and President of the Jury. The honorary president of the competition is UK culinary icon Clare Smyth. Clare Smyth is accompanied by Philip Tessier who himself won silver on Bocuse d’Or in 2015.
One of the main raw ingredients for the finals of the Bocuse d’Or Europe was Estonian quail from the Järveotsa Quail Farm. The second main raw material was Estonian catfish from Paadi farm.