Tom Milligan, President, Bocuse d’Or Australia
Bocuse d'Or is to food as haute couture is to fashion or the World Cup is to football. It takes us to the pinnacle of culinary ambition and pushes the edge of innovation.
The world’s most prestigious culinary contest
- Named after the groundbreaking French chef Paul Bocuse, the Bocuse d’Or is a biennial world chef championship that has been running since 1987.
- Frequently referred to as the culinary equivalent of the Olympic Games, the event is the world’s most prestigious cooking competition, where preparation and cooking of all dishes is performed in front of a live audience.
- To get there, contenders must first be selected in their own country, then be placed in the top five in their regional competition.
- The next gruelling two-day event will take place in January 2021 in Lyon, France at the SIRHA International Hotel, Catering and Food Trade Exhibition.
Meet Joshua Pelham, Australia’s Candidate for Bocuse d'Or
Executive Chef at RACV Cape Schanck Resort, Joshua Pelham has dreamed of competing in the Bocuse d’Or ever since he was an apprentice and invited to watch Scott Pickett training for the 2005 event.
The talented chef will be joined by Commis Chef Harrison Caruana, a chef at RACV City Club, at the Bocuse d’Or Asia Pacific, to be held at Guangzhou 1-2 July. They are now training under Head Coach Scott Pickett, Assistant Coach Luke Croston and a panel of senior chefs.
““Our last two competitors Michael Cole and Dan Arnold have both achieved great things, as have their commis chefs, Laura Skvor and Ryan Cosentino. Our challenge now is to maintain the momentum and show the world our incredible produce and culinary flair.””
Tom MilliganPresident of Bocuse d’Or Australia
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Meet the team
Born and raised in England, Tom trained at the prestigious Ritz Hotel Piccadilly, working under acclaimed chefs Terry Laybourne, Michael Quinn and Bruno Loubert. His passion brought him to Australia to the Hyatt Regency Adelaide before heading overseas to the Park Hyatt Buenos Aires.
The attraction of Australia’s innovative culinary industry saw him return to Adelaide as a Chef Instructor with Le Cordon Bleu Culinary School at Regency Institute for Hospitality.
The following years saw him in a wide range of roles including Head Chef to the iconic Stephanie Alexander; Chef de Cuisine of Cecconis at Crown; Executive Chef at Hotel Windsor; Senior Culinary teacher for Holmesglen Institute of TAFE and Executive Chef for The Atlantic Group.
Tom returned to Le Cordon Bleu Australia in 2018 as Technical Director based in Melbourne.
In 1995 Tom represented Australia at the Bocuse d’Or in Lyon, and now as President he is the driving force behind Bocuse d’Or Australia and also a member of the judging panel for this illustrious competition.
Beginning his career as an apprentice in South Australia, Scott Pickett won the Salon Culinaire aged 18 and made the move to Melbourne. There he worked with Bruno Cerdan at The Hotel Windsor and Philippe Mouchel at Restaurant Paul Bocuse.
Heading to London, Scott joined Philip Howard at The Square and worked his way up to Sous Chef. Upon returning to Melbourne he worked with Donovan Cooke at Ondine and again with Philippe Mouchel, as well as representing Australia in the Bocuse d’Or in 2005.
Next Scott enjoyed a successful five-year tenure as Executive Chef at The Point in Albert Park, until he realised a lifelong dream by opening his own restaurant, Estelle, in 2011.
Following the success of Estelle, Scott launched a second venue, Saint Crispin, in 2013. Two years later he opened ESP – Estelle By Scott Pickett – next door to the original Estelle, and in 2016, Pickett’s Deli & Rotisserie in the Queen Victoria Market. His next venture was Matilda in 2018, named after his daughter and featuring meat cooked over live flames and an open grill, and a rejuvenated Estelle opened its doors in 2019.
Most recently Scott replaced St Crispin in Collingwood with the Italian-inspired Lupo, and Pastore at Hotel Chadstone, as well as opening a Pickett’s Deli & Rotisserie outlet at terminal 3 at Melbourne Airport.
With wide experience across the hospitality industry as a journalist, publicist and marketing professional, Trish first began assisting Team Australia in 2004. She is now an independent consultant under the banner of Harty Food Media.
From some of Melbourne’s best kitchens to Michelin-starred restaurants in the UK, USA and back, Chef Josh Pelham has already had an extraordinary culinary journey.
Beginning his career at Melbourne institution Matteo’s and then at Fenix alongside renowned chefs Raymond Capaldi and George Calombaris, Josh went on to serve an apprenticeship at Sofitel’s The Culinary Academy.
After receiving the Hotel Sofitel's 2006 Apprentice of the Year Award, the then 20- year-old, moved to London to work at the two-star Michelin restaurant, The Square, where he made headlines in UK media for placing second at the 2007 Young Chef of the Year competition.
His time in London also saw the start of a long association with restaurant owner and chef Philip Howard and fellow Australian chef Scott Pickett.
Upon returning Melbourne in 2011, Josh joined George Calombaris' team as Sous Chef at The Press Club and was named Victorian state winner in the 2011 Electrolux Young Chef of the Year Awards, giving him the chance to work at Thomas Keller’s The French Laundry in California.
After another stint in London at The Square, Josh returned to Melbourne in early 2014, reuniting with Scott Pickett at the chef’s One Hat restaurant Estelle, in Northcote. He was then named The Age Good Food Guide’s Young Chef of the Year for 2015.
In 2017 Josh was appointed Executive Chef at RACV Cape Schanck Resort on Victoria’s picturesque Mornington Peninsula.
Gabriel Gaté is a chef with an international reputation as a cookery author, television presenter and cookery teacher. Born in the Loire Valley of France where his father grew all the family’s fruit and vegetables and made wine from the small family vineyard, Gabriel learned the joys of eating and cooking from his mother and grandmother who were excellent cooks.
As a young man, Gabriel had the chance to learn to cook from some of the finest French chefs (he worked in two three Michelin-star restaurants) before coming to Australia in 1977 with his Melbourne-born wife, Angie. He has since established himself as one of the country’s leading communicators on food and cooking.
He is the author of twenty-three cookbooks, including ‘French Cuisine for Australians, ‘Good Food for Men’, ‘How to Teach Kids to Cook,' ‘Recipes for a Great Life’ co-written with Dr Rob Moodie, 'Taste Le Tour Regional French Cuisine and 100 Best Cakes and Desserts. Total sales of his books exceed 1.1 million copies, making him the highest-selling Australian male cookery writer.
Gabriel has presented cookery shows on television for the past 40 years, most recently he produced and presented ‘Taste Le Tour with Gabriel Gaté’, a series of gourmet segments on French food and wine screened on SBS during the Tour de France bicycle race in July each year, which lasted 15 seasons.
Gabriel likes helping others discover the joys of cooking with fresh food and is in demand as a guest speaker and MC.
Founder of RW Marketing - an internationally recognised marketing agency well known in the industry for producing successful campaigns, exceptional strategies, branding, websites, content, video and photography, and for fostering a vibrant community of like-minded business leaders.
With a solid network of reputable clients from various industries, Richard has earned a reputation for continually delivering successful outcomes, integrity and innovation. He transformed RW Marketing’s active clients into a thriving interactive community through the “Innovation Centre” where members can collaborate, network and experiment with like minded members.
Richard also shares his wealth of knowledge and experience in various professional associations where he can either be found working on the committee, or behind the scenes to ensure the future success and vitality of good causes. These include Les Toques Blanches, The Wellness Sector and ties to the North Melbourne Football Club.
A Chef at RACV City Club in Melbourne, Harrison is a graduate of William Angliss Institute. Recently he gained competition experience as the state winner of the Nestlé Golden Chef’s Hat Award.
Born in Normandy, Philippe Mouchel trained with the great Paul Bocuse in Lyon, and was then sent to work at the first Paul Bocuse restaurant in Japan. There he learnt to interpret classical French cooking for Japanese tastes – and also met his wife, Tomoko.
In 1991 Philippe arrived in Melbourne to open Paul Bocuse restaurant to great acclaim. When it closed in 1997, Philippe headed up the kitchens at a number of restaurants in Melbourne and Sydney, worked to develop winery restaurants, and spent a few years back in Japan. He returned to Melbourne in 2003 to open the Brasserie by Philippe Mouchel at Crown.
His latest restaurant, Philippe, showcases traditional yet innovative French cooking that employs high quality seasonal produce and serves refined dishes.
Philippe has been an integral member of Team Australia for over 20 years as Coach, President and now Vice President. His support for emerging talent is legendary and among his many accolades and titles he is a judge for The Age Good Food Guide Young Chef of the Year.