Tollbua’s Marketing and Communications Director recaps a week in which the restaurant hosted the dignitaries of European Cuisine, as Norway took bronze in Bocuse Eurpoean Finals.
After an epic couple of weeks at the restaurant, the dust has settled and normal service has resumed. But I have a sneaking suspicion that nothing will ever really be the same again…
The road to Bocuse 24
Trondheim has been on a gastronomic rollercoaster since I moved to Trondheim 14 years ago. What is available in the glass and on the plate today is virtually unrecognisable from when I first started visiting Norway.
The region has always been a source of quality natural ingredients, such as the succulent scallops, delicious skrei and protein-rich reindeer which featured in the Bocuse competition. But in recent years, these natural wonders have cultivated native talent in the kitchen and kickstarted a culinary revolution.
Food producers have pioneered new products, restaurants have upped their games and a new generation of chefs has been inspired. Stars started to appear. This was followed quickly by the opening of the first five-star hotel and the hosting of the Michelin Awards themselves (2019).
I was in Olavshallen that memorable evening, alongside Christopher Davidsen and Henrik Dahl Jahnsen (then Speilsalen, now Chef Patron of Tollbua) when they were awarded their first star. The energy and relief of the evening was like the explosion of a Champagne cork – it felt like a real watershed moment.
But even that would not prepare me for the successes which were to follow. Soon Trondheim and Trøndelag were recognised as European Region of Gastronomy (2022), and then it was announced that the city would be host to the Bocuse European finals. In terms of culinary events, this is pretty much as big as it gets.
As if that wasn’t exciting enough – local chef, previous colleague and friend of the Tollbua family, Håvard Werkland, won Chef of the Year 2023, therefore qualifying as Norway’s representative in the competition. Tollbua’s Chef Patron, Christopher, is a good friend and long-term collaborator with Håvard, who was commis for Christopher when he won silver in Bocuse d’Or 2017. Christopher, naturally, was selected as coach for the Norwegian Team in the year’s competition.
The build up
“When we visited in 2023 to plan the competition, Tollbua was still in development,” said Catherine Guérin, from the Bocuse Winners association. “We were stood on the balcony of Rockheim opposite. Christopher pointed out the building and told me about his plans for the restaurant. At that point I knew we had to host our dinner there.”
So, even before we opened Tollbua earlier this year, we already had one of the most prestigous bookings on the continent, in the books. The Bocuse Winners Dinner is a gathering of all the previous winners and podium finishers from Bocuse d’Or, along with their teams, partners and other gastronomic dignitaries. It’s like a who’s who of star chefs, all of whom decended upon Tollbua on the Tuesday during the competition, for a cocktail reception. No pressure…
When you achieve a podium finish you are inducted into the Bocuse Winners alumni, though there are some exceptions as with Swedish chef Jimmi Eriksson, who was awarded Honoris Causa (an honorary member) for his contribution to the competition over the years. It was an emotional and special moment to see him welcomed into the family on the stage at Tollbua.
The planning which goes into hosting these events is deceptively enormous. Christopher invited his good friend Sebastian Myhre (Stallen / FYR Bistronomi & Bar) to create a menu and cook for the Bocuse Winners dinner. The challenge was to deliver the quality food, to hundreds of discerning guests, all at the same time, and within a short period as many leave early to prepare for the competion. We had to combine local ingredients, alongside all the sponsor products which need to be included in the experience.
So, when we got a glowing letter of thanks from Catherine after the event, it was a really heartfelt moment for us. Not that the madness of that epic week ended there.
Norway-fest!
The following day, Tollbua was host for Norgesfest, the offical afterparty for the Norwegian team. Again, this was a booking made long before anyone had set foot in the restaurant, courtesy of Arne Sorvig and the Norwegian Bocuse team. We were prepared for upwards of 750 guests – an event which would test the capacity of the restaurant in every conceivable way. The event sold out with minues of being made available, many months ahead of time.
Suffice to say, this was a purely drink-based event! But even that threw up a whole array of questions. Plastic glasses, for example, were a hot topic in our weekly meetings. In the end we stuck to our guns and served the majority drinks in the style in which people have become accustomed to at Tollbua. Our guests had come here to celebrate in style and that was how we intended to treat them.
In collaboration with event organisers Z Event, we transformed the restaurant into a club for the evening, with a stage, sound system, lights, several bars, and live performance from Norwegian rapper OnklP.
The interesting part of the planning was prepaparing for the various outcomes for how well Team Norway did on the day. If Håvard, Christopher and Team Norway performed well in the competition it was always going to be whole different atmosphere. In the end, Håvard romped home to take third place; a bronze medal and a place in the final in Lyon in 2025.
It was a fantastic result which culminated nearly six months of extremely hard graft in the test kitchen. Håvard and his team have been working round the clock to perfect every little detail of the dishes they served and the investment really shined through.
Alongside Denmark in first, and Sweden in second place, Norway completed a Scandinavian white wash of this year’s competition, with a notable jump in points to the next competitor in fourth, the UK.
I would personally also like to extend a massive congratulations to the UK, who came fourth and also won the Special Prize for the Theme on the Plate. I had the honour of collaborating with as their local host here in Trondheim. They have a stellar team and will provide good competition in the final next year (the top 10 of 20 European teams go through).
Congratulations to all the teams who competed: just getting to this stage and creating the masterpieces they made in front of prestigious judges and an energetic audience, is an achievement few will ever be able to experience. And the various styles and enthusiasm your supporters brought to the arena was simply magic.
Alongside being the UK host and working at Tollbua, I was also taking photos at Trondheim Spektrum during the competition. Taking on lots of work was the standard for everyone at Tollbua that week, as we gallantly (some might say ‘madly’) kept the restaurant open all through the competition, even though we were also working through the night!
We had a full house (triple full on some days) with diners including a lot of highly regarded professionals from the industry and the press, and special requests from other Bocuse teams travelling to Trondheim. The pressure was enormous on the Tollbua team, but they shone through and delivered a week which will be hard to forget throughout their careers.
From Røros with love
The Bocuse Winners then travelled to Røros for a two day gathering in the famous UNESCO World Heritage site. On the second day the chefs (including several famous names from world cuisine) were split into four teams and challenged to make an impromptu four-course lunch. I stood in the kitchen watching chefs like Régis Marcon, Davvy Tissot and Jans Peter Kolbeck, to name but a few, all collaborating and singing and cooking and laughing together… it was a moment I will never forget.
Of course Christopher Davidsen was also there, along with his wife Siri, and also Håvard and his partner Lisa. We ate, drank, played games, visited the sites in Røros and even managed to sleep a little after the long week which preceded us in Trondheim.
Playing darts with these guys in a little Røros pub, and several other great chefs from Scandinavia was a fitting (and hilarious) end to a wonderful week. Well done to Filip August Bendi (Bocuse d’Argent 2023) for winning, but let’s be honest; after two or three beers, we were all equally shit at hitting the dart board!
What have I learned from the whole experience? You have to savour these moments, for while there will be more competitions, many more full evenings in the restauarnt, and plenty of trips to enjoy, this particular event will probably never happen in our home town again. Not only savour the moment, but capture it in any way you can. While I was in Røros my wife sent me a text asking me about a chef she had been seen holding a presentation during the Bocuse event, a famous French chef who has a three-star restaurant in a small mountain village which has strong ties with local ecology & sustainable development, which she is particularly interested in. Had I heard of him before?
Yes, in fact here’s a photo of us hanging out together in Røros!
