Practice makes perfect: Houston country club chef Fritz Gitschner to represent U.S. in Lyon.

Watching the Summer Olympics reminds us of the thousands of hours that elite athletes must practice for events in which winning often comes down to a matter of a few thousandths of a second. Imagine a competitor whose event changes every time he competes. Imagine further that it takes 14 hours to complete the event and that the participant choreographs every second of the event, dozens of times, in the last few months before the competition.

Welcome to the world of Fritz Gitschner.

Gitschner, CMC, executive chef of the Houston Country Club, Houston, TX, has been selected as the candidate to represent the United States at the 2005 Bocuse d'Or World Cuisine Contest in Lyon, France, January 25-26. Seven finalists competed in a four-day final competition held at the 85th Annual National Restaurant Association Restaurant Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago, May 22-25. There were three club chefs among the finalists: Gitschner; Keith Armstrong, executive chef, Piping Rock Club in Locust Valley, NY; and J. Kevin Walker, CMC, executive chef, Cherokee Town & Country Club in Atlanta, GA. Armstrong was awarded second place and Walker took third place. In addition, Armstrong was recognized for his best utilization of Vincello Veal and Walker for his best utilization of Clearwater Seafoods.

The distinguished judges for the 2004 Bocuse d'Or USA were: Alain Le Cossec, MOF, executive chef/ Instructor l'Institut Paul Bocuse, Lyon, France; Robert Sulatycky, executive chef, Four Seasons Hotel-Chicago; Chris Mills, executive chef, Joey's Mediterranean-OPM Wok & Cocktail Bar, Vancouver; George Bumbaris, executive chef, Ritz Carlton-Chicago; Frederic Castan, executive chef, Sofitel Water Tower, Chicago; Francois Sanchez, chef/proprietor, Chez Francois, Geneva, IL; Dominique Tougne, executive chef, Bistro 110, Chicago; and Yves Roubaud, chef/proprietor, Shaw's Crab House, Chicago. The competition is open to all professional hotel and restaurant chefs who are U.S. citizens. The winning chef represents the United States in Lyon, competing with chefs representing 24 international countries.

Representing His Country

"The reason I got involved was not to have a trophy," Girtschner said. "It was because no chef in the Americas ever won it." In 2003 (the contest is held every two years), Hartmut Handke, chef/proprietor of Handke's Cuisine, Columbus, OH, took sixth place in Lyon, the best finish ever by a U.S. candidate as well as "best meat platter."

Just getting into the finals for the U.S. competition is a fairly arduous process. "They had a whole selection process where you had to develop recipes and menus to serve eight people with certain ingredients--veal, pork, scallops, and rice," Gitschner said. "Twenty people were selected for the semifinal, which was held at the Art Institute of Chicago. The top-scoring eight people were selected for the finals."

The competitors had to prepare and plate their menus in five hours. Strategy and practice are both keys to success in the Bocuse. "Our goal was to be finished in four hours, 30 minutes," Gitschner said. The idea was to give the team half an hour to deal with any catastrophes. "It takes 15-20 minutes to plate," he noted. Gitschner, realizing that food can get downright chilly in that amount of time, rigged a contraption for the semifinals of heat lamps and hot plates to keep his food hot. The judges noticed the difference.

"Time-wise we were right on," he said. That wasn't an accident. Gitschner and his apprentice prepared their menu 15 times prior to the competition. Each effort took 12-14 hours from prep to finish. Realizing that there is no home-field advantage in the Bocuse, Gitschner prepared by packing up everything he needed and practicing off-site.

For the finals at the NRA show, the rules were changed. Twelve portions needed to be prepared for service on silver platters and two portions plated. "It put everything in a different spin," he noted.

Unfriendly Territory

If Lance Armstrong thought that natives were a bit hostile when he won the the Tour de France the first time, Gitschner also faces formidable challenges, if in different areas, when he comes to Lyon. First there is the apprentice issue. Gitschner's apprentice in Chicago will no longer be eligible by the time Lyon rolls around, because there is a top-age-of-22 limitation for apprentices. He is confident in his new apprentice, but notes that his apprentice in Chicago had only nine months of experience while European apprentices often start in the kitchen in their early teens.

The menu he is developing for that competition is based on Monkfish and a saddle of veal loin. He must use the loin, tenderloin, and kidney from the veal and must develop three garnishes for the fish. If that's not enough pressure, the Plexiglas dividers that separate competitors from the public in U.S. competitions will be absent. "There's no wall separating you from the audience," Gitschner said. The U.S. team must somehow focus with an international crowd of rubberneckers attempting to ask them questions.

But Gitschner isn't worried about the pressure. That's because he's once again leaving nothing to chance. He will treble the backbreaking practice regimen that he employed for the semi-finals and finals. And he will go to Lyon in search of local knowledge. "I'm not keen on bringing staples with me," he said. "But butter and flour are different in France." So Gitschner will practice with locally-available ingredients and research technique on the equipment he's likely to encounter.

Gitschner will not reveal details of his menu, but noted that in a competition named after the founder of nouvelle cuisine, "You're not likely to see any Asian Fusion."

So between now and January Gitschner will be racing against the clock, perfecting his menus and presentations. "It's so close between first place and fourth or fifth," he said. "You have to be right on."

For more information on the Bocuse d'Or USA effort, contact Michel Bouit, executive director, Bocuse d'Or USA, at 312-663-5701/[e-mail]; or visit his website at www.bocusedorusa.com. The international website can be found at www.bocusedor.com.