The Czech Republic team, headed by bocuse d’or national champion Dominik Unčovský, will take part in the European final of the Bocuse d’Or after many years. After Turin in 2018, Tallinn in 2020 and Budapest in 2022, the top gastronomic event will take place on March 19 and 20 in Trondheim, the capital of Norwegian gastronomy.

“It’s an amazing achievement for Czech gastronomy. The procedure is no longer automatic, as it used to be, and that makes it all the more valuable. The competition in Trondheim will be huge, so let’s keep our fingers crossed for Dominic and his team!” says Bocuse d’Or Czech director Adam Eliáš.

As in the national round, in the European round, all teams have a total of 5.5 hours to prepare two dishes served on a platter and a plate. This year, contestants in the first task, serving on a tray, must use high-quality Norwegian ingredients such as cod skrei, also known as Arctic cod, scallops and tørrfisk, which is a special unsalted cod dried with cold air and wind on wooden stands on the coast. In the second task, serving on a plate, it’s reindeer meat and typical Scandinavian brandy aquavit. In addition, teams must include in their recipes at least one ingredient typical of the country they represent as a distinct sign of national culinary heritage.

Dominik Unčovský won the chance to take part in the European final after the decision of the international jury made him the winner of the Czech national round of the Bocuse d’Or at Prague’s O2 universu on 6 May. The talented young chef is currently an ambassador for the Macro Academy. He and his assistant, a so-called commis, will enter the competition as soon as 9.40am on March 19. He will face representatives from Iceland, Poland, France, Spain, Holland, Denmark, Italy, Germany, Norway, Estonia, Belgium, Great Britain, Sweden, Slovakia, Turkey, Lithuania, Finland, Switzerland and Hungary. The top 12 European teams then face the Bocuse d’Or world finals on 26 January 2025 in Lyon, France.