Serge Vieira: “I’m the president of the federation!”
Who better than a winner of the Bocuse d’Or, an actual world championship for chefs, to talk about the Bocuse d’Or?
“Fifteen years on, I still have to pinch myself sometimes: I won the Bocuse d’Or for France!”. That was in 2005, Serge Vieira who was sous-chef for Régis Marcon, was only 27 years old. “You must remember that, at the time, we didn’t have all the TV cooking show aspect… You were just swept away by a real tidal wave: the limo, the international press wating for you…”
Serge Vieira with his wife in 2005.
Winning the contest propelled this son of Portuguese immigrants to new heights. His family was there to support him, including his father who passed away two years ago and who never came to eat at his restaurant, “because it’s not his world”. But he was there for the contest “discovering what I was doing” in the grandstand in Lyon, and this victory was also his. “I always say we, because it was a team, and that also includes my family, my close friends.”
« No other contest has this international scope. »
A poker bluff signed Marcon
At the time, things were not quite as structured as they are today. The young winner was not particularly interested in cooking contests. “I had just taken part in, and won, the Auvergne-Québec contest in 1997, which enabled me to make my first trip abroad aged 19 ans.” It was Régis Marcon, Bocuse d’Or 1995, who suggested he enter the contest, on a poker bluff. “After working for Marc Meneau, I found it difficult to adapt at Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid.” It was not the weather the native of Auvergne was struggling with, but the way the family establishment was run. “I came from a very structured establishment, where the chef wouldn’t work in the mornings. At Régis Marcon, first to arrive, last to leave, he struggled to find his place. And even started to doubt: “I was on the verge of leaving, when he threw me this challenge that I really didn’t feel capable of taking on.” Until he won the French contest: “After that, you say to yourself that you have to go, you must prove worthy of what you’ve already achieved.” He did not yet know the impact this would have on his life, the following years where he would be sought-after all over the world.
No other cooking contest has such an international scope.
During the years he spent travelling in Australia, Japan, including Mauritius, he continued to learn, with much humility. “In one month, I’d sometimes earn half what my father made in a year…” He never forgets his origins, Michelin, the tyres, not the stars, and endeavours to be irreproachable in the quality of his service. Although he often lacks time to go hiking, he continues to train, perfects he skills in several languages and feeds his curiosity, before settling down at Chaudes-Aigues in 2009, while regularly coaching teams for the Bocuse d’Or. Two years ago, the failure of Matthieu Otto signalled a need for change. “François Adamski’s decision to pass on the baton was shrewd.” As the new president of Team France, Serge Vieira endeavours to set up a structured team around Davy Tissot, and to provide the latter with the means to succeed, including training facilities with bedrooms and a gym… The metaphor may seem easy, but it is most relevant. “I’m not a coach, I’m the president of the federation.” For a most unique contest, a contest with physical, intellectual, and psychological dimensions. “The most beautiful in the world.”
By Amélie Riberolle
