Working in the pressure tank.

 

Take a look inside the mother of all culinary competitions with Chef Jeffrey Lizotte.

 

Imagine what it would be like to cook in front of Thomas Keller, Daniel Boulud, Grant Achatz, Traci Des Jardins, Tim Ryan, Gavin Kaysen and the like. Imagine having a five hour timeline, a crowd of noisy onlookers, loud techno music, a crazy Emcee and all the while you are hoping to represent your country at a contest named after Paul Bocuse! This is not a reality show, this is real and it is one of the most exciting things I have ever witnessed. Listen in to our interview with Jeff to find out what it is really like to compete at the highest level of culinary arts.

 

Jeffrey Lizotte started his journey in the kitchen at the age of 15. He began by washing dishes at a small Italian-American restaurant in his hometown of Simsbury, Connecticut. His two older sisters worked in the dining room and helped to make his first job as close to home as possible. Upon graduating high school, Jeffrey entered the Hotel School at Cornell University and graduated with a Bachelors of Science in Hotel Administration. During the school year, Jeffrey worked at Les Ducs, a small French bistro which he helped open in Ithaca , New York. His summers were spent working on Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard at the Club Car restaurant and Sweet Life Cafe respectively.After school, Jeffrey was recruited by David Bouley to join the kitchen team at his late restaurant, Danube, in New York City. After its closure, Jeffrey worked with Eric Ripert and the staff at Le Bernardin for one year before landing a job in Bordeaux, France at Restaurant La Tupina. Jeffrey was quickly promoted to second de cuisine at La Tupina and saw his work visa expire after a year in Bordeaux. Determined to prolong his training in France, Jeffrey was offered a job as chef de partie at Jacques Chibois’s La Bastide St. Antoine in Grasse. After two years in France, Jeffrey returned home to his native Connecticut to take the chef de cuisine post at the Restaurant ON20 in Hartford, Connecticut where he hangs his apron to this day.