The year was 2015 and, amid the cheers and shouts from the audience, an ecstatic Thomas Keller hugged Paul Bocuse, the French culinary statesman who had started the Bocuse d'Or, the international chef competition, decades earlier.
"Monsieur Paul, we did it," said the proud Keller. The American team had come in second — they won silver — the best they had ever achieved in its rankings.
Monsieur Paul grinned. "Gold," he said, pointing out the obvious. Keller took it to heart. The American team needed to try harder.
In late January, after a year of grueling preparation, the U.S. team took top honors during the 30th anniversary of the event, a biennial culinary competition that takes place in Lyon, France.
Never heard of the Bocuse d'Or? The event is more familiar worldwide among a certain stratum of chefs than it is to the general public. Think World Cup soccer rather than Super Bowl, with all the excitement, noise and drama that takes place in a sports stadium, with 1,000 or more observers cheering on their teams from nearby bleachers. "The Great British Baking Show" this is not.
Gavin Kaysen, chef/owner of Spoon and Stable in Minneapolis, was there in Lyon, as he has been since 2005, as an observer, contestant, coach and now vice president of the Ment'or Foundation, which financially supports and trains the U.S. competition.
"We are on Cloud 9," he said from Lyon, hours after the big announcement.
"It was an amazing collaborative effort. It's remarkable because you put us all together and we help come up with these dishes with the chef, and we help do everything we can," said Kaysen. "But at the end of the day, it's them [the chefs]. Anything can happen."