Olympic competition heated in the kitchen

“We brought home a silver but it should have been gold,” lamented Joseph Leonardi, executive chef of the Somerset Club in Boston. The competitor was reflecting on a successful performance, but the memory of finishing second overrode his triumph. Leonardi was back at his alma mater, Johnson & Wales University, on Jan. 16 to be honored as a distinguished visiting chef. But what everyone wanted to talk to Leonardi about was his stint as captain of Team USA. The team competed in the Culinary Olympics last summer in Erfurt, Germany, that was held just after those London athletic games, which received just a bit more media coverage.
Team USA won double silver, placing second in both the Hot Food and Cold Platter events. Sweden was the gold-medal winner in the competition, officially known as the International Culinary Exhibition.
“The team executed everything they needed to do. I think that the team performed,” said Leonardi. For these culinary games, qualities that an Olympian competing in London would have needed, such as endurance, were every bit as essential. For one event, called “The Restaurant of Nations,” the team had to cook a three-course meal with 110 servings per course. The time limit was six hours to complete preparation, cooking and service.
Chef Leonardi, as the captain, was tasked with filleting all the seafood for Team USA’s entry, the culinary equivalent of being the anchorman. It was a role that the chef was most comfortable in. After his knife-work was completed, he took on the role of player-coach, assisting the team to execute the preparation of the rest of the meal.
“And in the end we did do pretty well,” said Leonardi. Overall, Team USA finished sixth out of 32 competing countries. This team has tasted victory in the past in these games. In 2010, Leonardi was captain of Team USA in another international culinary competition, the Culinary World Cup. That time, Team USA brought home two gold medals. As for the distinguished-visiting-chef program, it is not just a nostalgic visit back to campus. Like most college homecomings there was plenty of reminiscing to be done. But the chefs are also put to work, presiding over a morning classroom demonstration before an amphitheater full of culinary students just as eager and ambitious as young Joseph Leonardi was when he attended Johnson & Wales, graduating in the class of 1997. As he put on his demonstration showing expert knife skills and an imaginative culinary presentation, he mentally placed himself back in the audience in the amphitheater. He said, “I wanted to get across [to the students] that once upon a time, that was me [watching the demonstration]. My message to them was hard work, determination and goal-setting [are] essential. If you don’t do those things, you will fail.”
More than 150 of the world’s leading chefs have visited campus through Johnson & Wales’ distinguished-visiting-chef program since it was first established in 1979. Three times a year, chefs come to JWU to share their experiences, tips and techniques with the culinary students of today. Past chefs have included JWU alum Emeril Lagasse, Jacques Pepin, Marcus Samuelsson, award-winning chef/owner of New York’s Red Rooster, Johanne Killeen and George Germon of Al Forno and Scott Leibfried, the chef de cuisine and unsung hero of “Hell’s Kitchen” and a graduate of the Class of ’93. Chef Leonardi is already planning his return to the competition for culinary gold. The next world culinary games will be held in 2016, with a brand new Team USA beginning international competition in 2014 at the World Cup in Luxembourg. The chef will find himself in a new role, patrolling the sidelines as manager, overseeing all the American Culinary Federation teams.
“It will probably be harder for me because I’m more of a hands-on chef,” he said. “For me to be sitting on the sidelines watching my team it will probably be a little tough.”
Before that, however, the chef has an additional goal he has set for himself. He will begin training to become a certified master chef, one of only 67 in the world. The master-chef exam will be given in 2014 by the American Culinary Federation.
A note to foodie geeks: Though the Bocuse d’Or of France is frequently referred to as the culinary equivalent of the Olympic Games, it is biannual and not separated by an Olympiad, that is, a period of four years.
Chef Lombardi left his philosophy with the JWU students: “If you cook from the heart, it’s like a free ingredient. I’ll guarantee you that your food will be better.” Perhaps he learned it at Johnson & Wales, or perhaps it was learned out in the world with skills taught at the college. But isn’t it refreshing to read about a competitor who makes news just for his competitive exploits? •


Bruce Newbury’s food and wine talk radio show is heard Saturdays and Sundays locally on WPRV-AM 790, on radio throughout New England and on the TuneIn and iHeartRadio mobile applications. He can be reached by email at bruce@brucenewbury.com.

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