This year, my friends Thomas Keller, Jerome Bocuse, and I had the great pleasure of training and mentoring the Team USA we sent to Lyon for this auspicious event. Our candidate, Timothy Hollingsworth from The French Laundry, made a noble effort, placing in the top 10 amongst 24 teams. I’m sure Thomas and Gavin Kaysen (who represented the U.S. in 2007) are just as proud of Timothy as I am. He is an extremely talented young chef and stood up well under competition pressure, which is very different from the pressures of cooking in a restaurant, even if it’s one of the finest restaurants in the country. Our team helped demonstrate the important role America now plays on the international culinary scene. The experience was also an incredible personal achievement for Timothy.

Meanwhile across the Atlantic in Vancouver, I just opened two new restaurants, and I know I promised to share them with you! Both Lumière and DB Bistro Moderne seem to be pleasing the local cognoscenti, most notably Mia Stainsby, one of the city’s most respected critics. Both David Sidoo, my Canadian partner, and I were thrilled to read her review in the Vancouver Sun. Every strong review is so gratifying to my staff, the people who are on the front lines with me every day, working so hard to please people. With each restaurant, you create a new team and a new identity and style. I definitely have a consistency of style from one venue to the next, but each time I try to craft it to appeal to local tastes and context, and Vancouverites are clearly serious about their food and restaurants!

In the process of getting to know David Sidoo and his wife Manjy, I discovered what a great food city Vancouver truly is. I also got to know some of the city’s most beloved chefs along the way. They have been so welcoming in helping me navigate the culinary world in British Columbia, and for that I am grateful. Coming up next is a restaurant on the Bowery. For DBGB Kitchen & Bar, I’m thinking American diner meets French brasserie will be the right vibe as I head downtown!