Thirty years after his father Régis, the young chef Paul Marcon will represent France at the Bocuse d’or

In a little over a month, Paul Marcon, the son of three-star chef Régis Marcon, will represent Haute-Loire and France at the Bocuse d’or, the most prestigious gastronomic competition in the world (read below). Since a very young age, the desire to cook has driven the youngest of the four children Marcon. “He cooked for his friends, he made us pancakes for breakfast… It was already his thing,” remembers his father Régis, the great chef based in Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, his native village.

“Competition was his school”

After college, Paul took a radical turn and joined the hotel school in Thonon-les-Bains. “I had pretty good grades, some of my teachers were surprised that I was going to the technological baccalaureate,” remembers Paul Marcon. A “fairly obvious” decision for him while the “father” indicates that he never had any influence in his choice of orientation. “With my wife Michèle, we never pushed them to do this job,” emphasizes Régis Marcon who works on a daily basis with his son Jacques. In Haute-Savoie, young Paul goes to school. And, very quickly, at just 16 years old, he registered for his first competition: Worldskills France. “When he taught me, I remember calling his teachers to tell them it was too early and that he should learn cooking first. But he immediately wanted to take part in competitions and he quickly fit into this mold,” continues Régis Marcon.

“It appealed to me straight away, because I like competition in general. It’s natural for me to do it in my job as a chef. My father had made his comments known to me, but it was my desire and no one forced me to do so. » Paul Marcon has participated in the Worldskills three times, for three finals and one medal. “Competitions are the school of modesty, rigor and the desire to surpass oneself,” explains the starred chef. He had failures and successes. Competition was his school, he is a born competitor. The complete opposite of me, it was never really my thing. I was more of an autodidact, I had little culinary experience, we moved to Saint-Bonnet at a very young age with Michèle. »

Subsequently, the youngest member of the Marcon family went to gain experience in several star restaurants in Lyon before settling down in Sweden, a country in which he lived and worked for two years with his wife Noémie. “I have never run my own restaurant. Whether in my career or in school, I have always worked for someone and followed their orders. The only space for creative freedom I had was during competitions. It’s the only way I’ve found to be 100% myself,” describes Paul Marcon. With an apprenticeship punctuated by competitions, the young chef has forged a cuisine that he describes as “technical” and “precise”. “I like to push things further than in general. I love digging into ideas and trying to find the next trend. I like the constant search for new ideas or techniques and also calculating down to the smallest detail, sometimes even beyond the kitchen, whether it is the choice of materials or other things. »

This constant quest for precision and detail is, at the moment, very useful to the chef, now 29 years old. On January 27, he will represent France at the Bocuse d’or, the equivalent of the World Culinary Cup. Paul Marcon will rub shoulders with 24 other chefs, all selected to represent their country. The most prestigious gastronomic competition for this lover of competitions since his years in hotel school. “It’s obviously a source of pride to represent France. It is an incredible and unique experience. I had already had this honor as a junior, during the Worldskills world final, but the Bocuse d’or is the next level. » A competition that his father Régis won, almost 30 years ago, in 1995 (read below).

And for this competition enthusiast, participating in the most important gourmet cooking competition is a great opportunity, but above all an immense challenge. “I had it in mind for a very long time. It was first a dream, then a goal and now it’s a reality. » And Paul Marcon is well placed to know this, you have to have cut your teeth elsewhere to participate. “We don’t jump straight into the deep end, we prepare well in advance by doing other competitions. Bocuse d’or is a daily and long-term preparation. We are seconded to the competition for more than a year. It’s something quite rare, we’re almost 100% on it every day for twelve months. For other competitions, we prepare more on weekends, in the afternoon or during breaks between two services. It’s very special, you have to optimize each day. And it’s paradoxical, because we have a lot of time, but it still goes very quickly?! »

And to prepare as best as possible, the Altiligerian leader surrounded himself, from the start, with a strong and united collective with Team France. On the big day, he will be supported by his clerk Camille Pigot. And the duo is coached by the Meilleur Ouvrier de France 1993, chef Christophe Quantin. “There has been a reorganization over the months according to our needs and the forces present. It’s important to surround yourself well, because you have to create synergy. You have to know how to give the best of yourself almost every day. » On the occasion of such a deadline, the French team offers chef Marcon and his partners a comfortable working environment. Six days a week, Paul Marcon prepares in the Team France training center in Écully (Rhône).

In September, the subject of the first test, “the plateau”, was revealed. The 24 candidates will have to cook venison, foie gras and tea. The theme of the second event, “the plate”, was revealed just three weeks ago. For this new edition of the Bocuse d’or, it is the celery, the lean and the lobster which will have to be sublimated. “We still have things to sort out. We have until Christmas to refine our recipes and our preparations down to the smallest detail. After the holidays, we will move on to the “mock exams” period, a complicated moment, because we have worked and timed each step individually, but we will have to fit them all into the conditions of the competition. We will carry out the first mock exam between us and then we will continue every two days until the big day”, dissects Paul Marcon.

And the more time passes, the more the pressure increases. “We’re starting to feel like it’s accelerating. We receive more calls, the press asks us a lot more. It’s going up little by little, but we stay among ourselves and do our job. We stay in our bubble,” continues the French Team candidate. To maximize their chances, Paul Marcon, Camille Pigot and Team France are followed by a mental trainer. “He manages concerns or potential group problems. It’s like a small family that lives and works together. Sometimes there may be things to deal with. » And the last week before the competition, the trainer will be there every day.

Like his father Régis, Paul Marcon is a fan of running. A way to relieve the pressure of such an appointment. “I need it, I like sport in general. As much for physical well-being as for the need to evacuate. » And the youngest of the Marcon children (Jacques, Marie, Thomas and Paul) has enough to be under pressure. “I won’t get a second chance. We don’t know what will happen, the preparation will have been long and intense, but it remains a competition, it’s not real life. I still have a lot of things to do in my private and professional life,” puts Paul Marcon into perspective.

After a well-deserved rest, he will join his father, his brother Jacques and his wife Noémie in the kitchens of the three-star family restaurant in Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid. In the meantime, the 29-year-old chef will transcend himself to succeed Davy Tissot, the last French Bocuse d’or, crowned in 2021. “I want to go as far as possible all the time. I needed to challenge myself and I don’t want to have any regrets. My family history, my first name… There are a lot of pressure factors, but I need them, it’s part of my behavior. I’m doing it for me and getting rid of any potential obstacles. Of course, it would be a huge source of pride to bring the trophy back to Auvergne, Haute-Loire and Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid, thirty years after my father. »

“The most prestigious gastronomic competition in the world”

Created in 1987 by Paul Bocuse, the Bocuse d’or was imagined as a spectacular sporting competition where nations compete for excellence to win this exceptional trophy.

The concept?? Bring together 24 chefs from all over the world, among the most promising in their country, and ask them to prepare two dishes in 5 hours 35 minutes on an imposed theme in the heart of an 8,000 m2 arena in front of an excited audience. At the end of two intense days, a jury, made up of some of the most recognized chefs on the planet, awards three distinctions, the bronze, silver and gold Bocuse.

In thirty years, the Bocuse d’or has become the professional event in which more and more countries wish to participate. This is why, since 2007, the Bocuse d’or Europe, Latin America and Asia-Pacific continental selections have been created to determine the 24 finalists. The world final, organized during the SIRHA in Lyon, takes place every two years and determines, in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators and professionals, who will now hold the title of “best chef in the world”.

Beyond a simple culinary competition, the Bocuse d’or is also “an extraordinary event, a human and collective adventure”. Like a high-level athlete, each candidate has his own team and his supporters who support him to accompany him to the highest step of the podium. In this context, Team France was created in 2012 to support and supervise the French candidate for the Bocuse d’or. It is made up of chefs, Meilleurs Ouvriers de France, Bocuse d’Or winners, coaches, catering professionals, committed partners or simply cooking enthusiasts…