Two chefs from Luxembourg have been selected this summer for the penultimate phase of the global S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy, a competition for chefs under-30s.
“The chef received an email for registrations, and asked to all of us if we wanted to take part. I was the only one interested with all the criteria, so I went for it.” Théo Kopp, 28, was selected in July to take part in the regional final, Western Europe category, of the global cooking competition S.Pellegrino Young Chef Academy.
Selected by dossier
The first selection was made on the basis of a dossier: “We had to send three photos of the dish we were proposing, and a technical file, by June 19.
And despite a passion for travel, this native of Metz gave priority to his home region with his dish entitled: “Potée lorraine : Selected piece of pork, kimchi mirabelle and pig ear, reduced pork and picon Mirabelle juice”. “We used to eat this kind of dish at my grandparents’ house, so it’s a bit of a memory,” explains the chef, who decided on his career late in life.
An engineer in the kitchen
Arriving in January 2024 as chef de partie at Ma Langue Sourit, the 2-star restaurant in Moutfort, Théo Kopp does indeed have a degree… : in engineering. “I studied engineering for five years in Nancy,” he explains, in industrial robotization. After a first experience as an engineer, he decided to travel, to see elsewhere: “I arrived with my partner in La Réunion. There, I started working as a kitchen assistant in a 4-star hotel’s restaurant. I’d been thinking about cooking for years, but wasn’t really sure about this dream.
Then life took him to work in a brasserie in Metz, then in Paris, with chef Mory Sacko, and at the Cabro d’or in Les Baux de Provence… It was decided that he would make a career not in engineering – “even though I liked it and it still brings me a lot” – but in gastronomy.
Regional final in November
On November 18 and 19, he will travel to the Park Hôtel Vitznau in Switzerland to take part in the regional final, alongside Swiss and Belgian candidates, which will select the participants for the Global final, to be held in Milan in November 2025.
Accompanied by his mentor, Ma Langue Sourit chef Cyril Molard, he will present his dish to a panel of professional judges. Five hours’ preparation, €250 budget and 10 portions to make.
A second candidate for Luxembourg
Another candidate who has worked with vegetarian chef René Mathieu, of Michelin-starred restaurant La Distillerie, will also be in the running this November: Italian Davide Calabrese, who represents Luxembourg, but has now returned to his native country.
“(Candidates) must have worked full-time for at least one year in one or more restaurants/restaurants as a “commis” or “chef de cuisine” or “chef de partie” or “sous-chef” (it is not necessary to have worked for one year in the same restaurant),” details the competition rules.
A vegetarian dish
His vegetarian dish will be called “Asparagus, ravioli and rhubarb”. “I was inspired by the future of global nutrition: I asked myself a simple question. Where is humanity going? In terms of evolutionary nutrition and fine dining I created this vegetarian course with the reflective purpose of having an eco-sustainable impact on planet earth. I was inspired in the construction of the dish by my homeland Puglia, in Italy, and I created it in a contemporary key,” explains Davide Calabrese.
A competition to follow, which could take Luxembourg to Milan at the end of 2025!
