S'porean chef, 30, trains 16 hours a day for culinary face-off against international chefs in France

For 16 hours a day, chef Mathew Leong has been tirelessly preparing and cooking the same two dishes repeatedly.

He's kept up this routine for the past few months.

And no, it’s not for his role as the executive chef at three-Michelin-starred Re-naa restaurant in Norway.

The 30-year-old Singaporean chef is gearing up for the finals of what many consider the Olympics of the culinary world — the Bocuse d'Or.

After securing second place at the Bocuse d'Or Asia-Pacific selection round, Leong is now representing Singapore in the finals held in Lyon, France.

Ahead of his big day on Jan. 26, Leong shared his thoughts with Mothership about the competition.

Training 16 hours a day

Leong previously competed in the Bocuse d'Or Final in Lyon in 2021, where he was the youngest candidate to represent Singapore.

Then, Leong finished in 12th place, a result that left him more determined to win this time around.

Over the past two years, Leong and his team — which includes Norwegian commis chef Synva Knapstad Gjerde and coach chef Julien Royer — have been training rigorously for the competition.

As the finals draw closer, the team’s routine has intensified.

They start their day at 8am with a full time trial run, during which Leong and his team practice preparing every element for the competition — a gruelling process that lasts 16 hours and often wraps up around midnight.

This involves prepping everything exactly like it will be on the competition day, including packing the ingredients and polishing the platters.

The Bocuse d’Or has two signature challenges for contestants to showcase both their talents and the distinctive flavours of their countries: one larger dish served on a platter, and another served as individual portions on plates.

This year the platter theme aims to celebrate local gastronomy, while the plate theme has evolved and must be presented initially on a platter before it is plated.

During the competition, teams will create the two dishes within strict time limits: 5 hours and 30 minutes.

While Leong is full of determination, he admits that cooking the same dishes repeatedly can be exhausting.

However, his resolve remains unshaken.

"Being tired is one thing, but we are only one week away, so we just need to bite the bullet through three more practices and we hit the road to Lyon."

What's on the plate

For the competition, contestants must prepare their two dishes from a predetermined list of ingredients.

For the platter theme, Leong’s team will present a tourte (a type of pie from French cuisine) featuring roe deer and foie gras.

One of the key challenges for this dish, Leong revealed, is slicing the pie into 16 perfectly equal portions for the judges.

The pie's flaky texture makes it particularly difficult to achieve sharp, precise cuts.

Over the past three months, the team has experimented extensively, tweaking the dough's moisture content and thickness to perfect the recipe.

"We've done more than 100 pies, more than 100 different techniques to try and find the best solution. But I think we made it," Leong said.

For the second dish, they will be working with celeriac, green celery, stone bass, and lobster.

Leong mused that everyone would be doing almost the same thing with the fixed list of ingredients, but the question on that day would be "who is doing it best".

One of Leong’s strategies is to draw on his roots by incorporating Asian flavours into his dishes.

It’s an important part because Asian flavours can be intense, he explained.

This distinctive touch, he hopes, will leave a lasting impression, especially since his team will be the last team to be judged on competition day.

Inspiring others

While earning a spot on the podium is a primary goal, Leong also hopes to inspire young chefs to chase their dreams and consider competing in the Bocuse d'Or.

He envisions greater support for the competition in Singapore and aims to motivate more young talent to step onto the global stage.

Leong’s own journey began at age 13 when he decided he wanted to be a chef.

By 26, he had become the head chef of a Michelin Plate restaurant in Norway.

But his success didn’t come easy.

After completing national service, Leong sent out over 100 CVs a day to restaurants overseas. Six months later, he received an offer from Re-naa, then a one-Michelin-star restaurant in Stavanger, Norway.

Having already known about the prestigious Bocuse d'Or competition and observing how most of the first-place winners hailed from Norway, Leong wasted no time in accepting Re-naa's offer, despite other offers from restaurants in Germany and Sweden.

At 21, Leong left Singapore with just S$500 and faced the high cost of living in Norway by scrimping and saving.

He worked tirelessly, eating most of his meals in the kitchen and skipping social outings to focus on his career.

His hard work paid off when he became the head chef of Michelin Plate restaurant À L’aise in Oslo in 2021.

Despite his many accomplishments, competing in the Bocuse d'Or 2021 remains a defining moment he described as a "memory of a lifetime".

Following the 2021 competition, Leong received an invitation from Re-naa’s chef-owner, Sven Erik Renaa, to return as head chef—a role he readily accepted.

Now, as the head chef of Re-naa, Leong is fulfilling the dream his 21-year-old self had envisioned while working at the restaurant: competing once again in the Bocuse d’Or.

Competition details

The Bocuse d'Or 2025 grand finals will be taking place over two days on Jan. 26 and 27.

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Bocuse d'Or (@bocusedor)

Team Singapore will be competing on Jan. 26, as the last team of the day.

They are also slated to be presented with their trophies for placing second at the Asia leg of the competition at the end of this day.

Results of the finals will be announced at the end of the second day on Jan. 27.

If you want to see Leong and his team in action, catch the competition live on Bocuse d'Or's YouTube channel.

Related stories

Top photos by Denise Tan/Mothership