Ian Musgrave of the Ritz London to represent Team UK at Bocuse d'Or

Ian Musgrave, sous chef at the Ritz London, will be the Team UK representative at global culinary competition the Bocuse d'Or.

Musgrave, who was the British Culinary Federation’s Chef of the Year 2018, beat off competition from Luke Selby, Roux Scholar 2017, National Chef of the Year 2018 and Great British Menu winner 2019; Robert Sussex of ISS who was a National Chef of the Year 2019 semi-finalist and Ruth Hansom, head chef at Pomona, Young National Chef of the Year winner 2017 and Royal Academy of Culinary Arts Michael Bourdin Scholar 2016.

The four competed for the coveted spot at the Restaurant Show in London today, with Musgrave serving the judges a wood roast pepper, tomato and basil terrine with avocado, black olive and elixir of tomato. He followed this with a ballotine of Cotsworld chicken, smoked Alsace bacon and wild mushroom, chicken and leek royal, lovage emulsion and fennel flower, pea mousse, parmesan sable and pea tendrils, as well as a celeriac and Perigord truffle terrine.

He told The Caterer: “It was good, a bit stressful at the beginning, I was obviously very nervous but then once I got my first job out of the way I was well underway and in the groove. All the practise and the hard work came into play.

“It’s a great feeling to be able to represent the UK and to be chosen from the calibre of chefs I was up against and by the calibre of chefs that were judging. It’s a great feeling.

“That’s [the European heats] the next thing to think about, I’m looking forward to it, I think it’s going to be good. Nerve-racking of course but it’s the next stage. The hard work starts here.”

Judges included Adam Bennett, executive chef of the Michelin-starred Cross at Kenilworth and the UK's most successful Bocuse d’Or candidate to date as well as Philipp Tessier, Bocuse d’Or Silver winner in 2013, coach for the winning Team USA in 2015 and former sous chef at the French Laundry. The pair were joined by, among others, Pierre Koffmann, Simon Rogan, John Williams, Jonny Lake and Brian Turner.

Simon Rogan, president of Bocuse d’Or UK, thanked all the chefs who took part and the jury for their role in selecting the next candidate.

He said: “The Bocuse d’Or is the best competition in the world and we have the British chefs capable of winning it. We just need the financial support and resource to compete on the same level as the winning countries and I hope being here today can help us to achieve our goals. To have a UK candidate on the podium would be the proudest moment of my career.”

Musgrave will compete in the European heats in June 2020 with the international competition held in Lyon in 2021.