It's hard to believe, we know, but America has never won the Bocuse d'Or competition, the world's most prestigious cooking contest. Taking a cue from the 1992 Olympic basketball “dream team,” Thomas Keller is assembling a U.S. super-squad for the next Bocuse d'Or, Florence Fabricant reports in today's Times. Keller will be president of Team America, and Daniel Boulud the competition's honorary president. Together, the chefs will create a trial competition for eight teams to determine who will cook for the gold in France. “The goal is to make sure we’ll look good,” Boulud told the Times. “We have too many good restaurants not to be able to have a strong team.”

Tilting at the Bocuse d’Or [NYT]
Earlier: Documentary Captures the Ultimate Cooking Contest