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Agence France-Presse

After major investments in a bid to restore its lost national culinary prestige, France savoured victory on Monday at the world’s most prestigious international cooking competition, the Bocuse d’Or.
Paul Marcon, son of former winner Régis Marcon, clinched the title in France’s gastronomic capital, Lyon, 30 years after his much-garlanded father.
The biennial event, which takes place in front of a boisterous live audience, was founded in 1987 by the late French cooking legend Paul Bocuse.
Having seen Scandinavian countries dominate over the last decade, France’s team has professionalised and attracted funding from both public authorities and private donors in a sign of the importance of the title for national identity.



“It’s a childhood dream. It’s a source of pride to take France to the top again,” a visibly emotional Marcon, 29, told reporters on Monday evening after being hoisted onto the shoulders of his colleagues in his chef’s whites.
“Today I hope that we light up the eyes of all the cooks and cooks-to-come in France,” he added.
Twenty-four countries competed in the 2025 edition, with the Danish team, winners of the last edition, taking silver and Sweden taking bronze.
Marcon and his team wowed the judging panel with a pie filled with deer braised in red wine, foie gras and wild mushrooms, accompanied by celery and followed by apple flavoured with the French liqueur Chartreuse.



The quality of cooking on display at the Bocuse d’Or is seen by observers as increasing every year as countries invest in their delegations for national marketing purposes or to raise the profile of their gastronomic traditions.
France has won just one medal in the last decade – Davy Tissot having clinched gold in 2021 – with Scandinavian nations maintaining a grip on the top positions with their precise, minimalist and environmentally conscious cooking.
Until the victory by Marcon, the United States – whose food the French have long looked down on – had won more medals than France over the last 10 years.
“France was navel-gazing,” Tissot said recently, “while people around us were moving forward.”



Olivia Gregoire, then France’s trade and tourism minister, admitted in 2024 that France had been “outstripped by the performance and influence of other countries”.
Realising that the country had fallen behind, Team France head Romuald Fassenet began searching for new funds and resources when he took over in 2019. He found an ally in President Emmanuel Macron, who became the first French leader to visit the Bocuse d’Or.
Led by Marcon, around €600,000 (US$626,000) was raised for this year’s French team from private donors and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region surrounding Lyon, which is headed by ambitious conservative politician Laurent Wauquiez.
Macron also created an “ambassador for French gastronomy”, giving the role to former presidential chef Guillaume Gomez in 2021.


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Bocuse d’Or 2025 in photos as France wins top cooking competition ahead of Denmark, Sweden

Paul Marcon (centre) of France holds the first-place trophy of the Bocuse d’Or gastronomy contest at the Eurexpo Lyon Convention Centre in Lyon, France, on January 27, 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE

Marcon prepares dishes as he competes in the 2025 Bocuse d’Or cooking competition. Photo: AFP

Régis Marcon, father of Paul Marcon, celebrates after his son wins first prize at the Bocuse d’Or 2025. Photo: EPA-EFE

Ismo Sipelainen of Finland competes in the Bocuse d’Or 2025 cooking competition. Photo: AFP

Chefs taste dishes during the Bocuse d’Or 2025 cooking competition. Photo: AFP

Sebastian Holberg Svendsgaard of Denmark prepares a dish as he competes during the Bocuse d’Or 2025 cooking competition. Photo: Reuters

Paul Marcon (centre) prepares food during the Bocuse d’Or 2025 cooking competition. Photo: AP

Ryuya Kainuma of Japan prepares a dish in the Bocuse d’Or 2025 cooking competition. Photo: EPA-EFE

Sindri Sigurosson of Iceland prepares a dish in the Bocuse d’Or 2025 cooking competition. Photo: Reuters

Nils Gevele of Lativa prepares food in the Bocuse d’Or 2025 cooking competition. Photo: AP

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Food & Drink

Paul Marcon took gold at the world’s most prestigious international cooking competition after a disappointing decade for French chefs


Paul Marcon took gold at the world’s most prestigious international cooking competition after a disappointing decade for French chefs.


France