Until the contest on January 31st, find here the portraits of the eight candidates running for the 55th edition of the ‘Taittinger’. Today meet Paul Burgalières, representing the United Kingdom.
Born in France, Paul has been based in the UK for a long time. He hails from a family of butchers and inherited his love of cooking from his parents. After attending the Ecole hôtelière de La Rochelle, his career path took him to some of the greatest establishments in France, as well as to Denmark, where he earned his stripes at Chef Rasmus Kofoed’s famous restaurant “Geranium”. For the last five years he has held the role of Head Chef at restaurant “L’Enclume”, Simon Rogan’s restaurant, which was recently awarded three Michelin stars and is located in the popular tourist destination of the Lake District.
In this former smithy, Paul creates modern cuisine where vegetables take centre stage. Shining a spotlight on seasonal produce is high up on the priority list here.
Paul views cooking as a collective undertaking above all else, and he can’t imagine working in any other way than as a team.This competitive spirit motivates everyone in the kitchen to produce their very best in order to go above and beyond customer expectations. He is also approaching the competition in this frame of mind, with his brigade behind him for support.
His favourite sport is rock-climbing and one he practises as part of a team, also giving him a sense of both fulfilment and camaraderie. The English Chefs here this evening are counting on him to return the trophy to British soil, as Charles Coulombeau did back in 2020 !
