Bocuse d'Or diaries: Tom Phillips makes a comeback as team coach

When Tom Phillips placed 10th in 2019’s Bocuse D’Or, he was disheartened. Now he’s back as the team coach and ready to win

The Bocuse d’Or UK Academy team are gearing up for the 2023 World Finals in Lyon in January, which is held every two years. Each month we’ll hear from a different member of the team as they prepare to perform on the biggest stage in gastronomy.

In the third in our series of Bocuse d’Or diaries, we speak to team coach Tom Phillips about his journey from representing the UK as a candidate to becoming the team coach, and what the competition means to him.

I was initially introduced to the competition when I was 18 and working at the Ritz London under John Williams – he had a certificate on the wall outside his office from when he competed.

My obsession really kicked off when working in America at Per Se with Matthew Peters. He was executive sous chef at the time and was also competing for national selection, that he went on to win. I remember meeting Matthew for breakfast and taking the opportunity to ask as many questions about the competition as I could. He could see my enthusiasm and interest.

What Matt didn’t know was the stark difference between team America and UK in terms of support and, looking back, this is what fuelled my passion to become a coach for my country. The American team consisted of a chef, commis, coach and four assistants – all working full time in a bespoke development kitchen, which is what is demanded to reach the podium. In the UK there wasn’t anywhere near the same support, with no assistant roles for me to step into but, being stubborn, I went for it anyway as candidate.

I placed 10th, which was extremely disheartening at first after giving it my all, but after the disappointment subsided, I realised just how far I’d come. Andreas [Antona, chair of Bocuse d’Or] asked if I wanted to try again but I knew that my passion for the competition would be better realised as a coach, allowing me to focus on the organisational side of it.

In the past two years we have developed hugely and it’s testament to the whole of team UK that we are in the position we are today. We are well into development at the minute. Last week we received the plated dish brief and from now on it’s all about rehearsing the timings. Every minute has to be accounted for to get all the tasks done to the right level in time. The first full run-throughs will be an hour or two just to get everything done, but then it’s my job to debrief the team, amend timings and set the goals. We’ll be doing this all the way up to the final.

It can be just as stressful as a coach. As a candidate you have to be solely focused on each task and you’re not aware of the time. That’s where I step in. My level of coaching is very involved, I was itching to jump over the counter at the European Finals, but it’s all about keeping Ian [Musgrave, the candidate for team UK] going and focused. It’s a difficult and intimidating environment if you’ve never experienced it before. You have several thousand people screaming for other teams, the TV cameras and some of the best chefs in the world watching your every move.

We are part of Team UK because we want to show the rest of the world we’re a serious culinary country. We have the most exciting food scene in the world, particularly in London, and we want to showcase the amazing calibre of chefs in our country. We want the industry to be proud of the team and country.

Bocuse d’Or can inspire the younger generation to work in our industry. I don’t have a queue of young chefs outside my door like it used to be. People are scared of the hard work, long hours and a hostile environment, but it has changed so much and I don’t think people realise how far we’ve come. Not many industries offer you the chance to compete for your nation, put yourself on a world stage and help to progress food throughout the world.