When we last left Team USA 2025 on the road to Lyon, France they were on the way to New Orleans for the Americas competition. “The U.S. is now heading to Lyon, France in January 2025 to compete at the Bocuse d’Or, the world’s most prestigious culinary competition! Team USA Head Chef Stefani De Palma and Commis Bradley Waddle secured their spot on the international stage following a 5-hour and 30-minute battle in New Orleans, LA. They faced eight countries from North, Central, and South America.”
“Team USA secured the Gold and was selected to advance along with two-person teams from Canada (Silver), Mexico (Bronze), Chile (4th place), and Colombia (5th place). When they reach Lyon, Team USA will once again face these finalists from the Americas selection, alongside finalists from Africa, Asia, and Europe—a total of 24 teams from around the world are vying for the Gold medal.”
“Each team in the competition was tasked with completing the Bocuse d’Or’s two iconic tests: the theme on a plate and the platter theme, both featuring the host region’s local and emblematic products, which include wild boar rack, grits, alligator sausage, whole white shrimp, Murder Point oysters, and jumbo lump crab meat. To secure their spot in the finals, Team USA prepared a dish entitled “California’s Celebration of Louisiana Shellfish” and a platter entitled “Golden State Soul: California Meets the Bayou.””
““Our victory in the Americas selection is a result of dedication and commitment. Team USA showcased their innovative ideas for presentation at the highest level. It is important to acknowledge the coaches, chefs, mentors, and supporters who have been an integral part of this success. We are very proud of Chef De Palma and Commis Waddle and look forward to the Finals in Lyon,” said Chef Thomas Keller who is a founding member of Ment’or and President of the Foundation’s Board of Directors alongside chef co-founders and fellow board members Daniel Boulud and Jérôme Bocuse.”
Chefs Stefani and Bradley and all the members of Team USA 2025 particularly thank host New Orleans Chefs Emeril and EJ Lagasse and Nina Compton for their gracious hospitality during the Americas competition.
Team USA Head Chef Stefani De Palma and Commis Bradley Waddle continue as our guests.
Hi, I'm Chef Rudy Soremin, Princess Cruz's head of culinary arts, and the menu maker for a catch by Rudy, that's me, come sell with us when I want the asking king crab of food news. I listen to South Court restaurant show on AM A30 KLA radio. And welcome back, it is our two of the SoCal restaurant show, and happily we're here with you every Saturday morning from 10 AM until 12 noon, right here on AM. Right here on AM A30 KLA, the home of Angels Baseball 2024. It can also catch us on the AM A30 Angels app. I'm Andy Harris, the executive producer and co-host of the show. My colleague, Chef Andrew Gould will be joining us a little later in the show with his usual Ask the Chef segment, and we're proudly presented each and every week by Melissa's World Variety Produce and West Coast Prime Meats. We're heading up or heading back to the Napa Valley, where Team USA is continuing their training program leading up to January of next year when they're off to Leon to compete in the Bocustor International Culinary Competition. They are just back from the Americas competition in New Orleans, where Team USA proudly finished first, and we are speaking with Team USA head chef Stephanie DiPama and her Comey Bradley Waddle. Team USA, welcome back. We have one burning question for Stephanie that we didn't ask before. Stephanie, when we last left you, you had mentioned that you'd never been to New Orleans before, and you had a hankering to get to Cafe Dumont to try one of their famous bignets. Did that happen? Oh, 100%. Yeah, we had a late flight the day after the awards. So we definitely went to Cafe Dumont, had coffee, and then we also did a swamp tour, an alligator tour that afternoon, which is really, really cool. I love it. Bradley, what did you think of those bignets? They were phenomenal. You hear so much about them. They were well-renowned, so it was definitely exciting to get there, and it's part of the culture, and they're always in great locations, so it was an awesome experience. Well, I am so glad you got to do a couple visitor things, because I know you were pretty wound up, obviously, in the competition, and once Team USA prevailed as number one, you were very busy with me opportunities. People definitely wanted to chat with you. So New Orleans is such a great food town. It would have been a shame if you didn't get a cup of that coffee with chicory and be able to enjoy a bignet or two, so I love that. Now, talking about how hospitable New Orleans is, and also the hospitality of the food scene in New Orleans, I understand that you had a chance to spend some time with probably the most prominent chef in New Orleans, that being Emeril Lagasse, and also his son, E.J. Did you do some prep in the kitchen at Emeril's? Tell us about that experience. Yeah, Chef Emeril is a household name, and from the second we arrived in New Orleans, they treated us like family. We prepped out of Emeril's restaurant where his son, E.J., runs the kitchen, and it's such a beautiful space, and his team is so professional. So we were very fortunate to have that opportunity. They also hosted a welcome dinner for us at Meryl's, which a lot of our friends and family were able to attend, and it was just kind of a nice evening for everyone to get together before the big day. And Stephanie, we might mention Emeril's flagship restaurant in New Orleans, Emeril's in the warehouse district, has recently reopened after a year revamping and renovation. So I can only imagine how pristine that kitchen is. Oh, absolutely, and congratulations to them. They just recently got into Relay and Check Hill, so it's really, really big honor for them. Absolutely, and there's more good things that are in the wings. I understand that both Emeril and his son, E.J., they are actually doing a Portuguese-themed restaurant that is about to open. And for those listeners that don't know, Emeril is of Portuguese heritage. Correct, yeah, so I think we'll continue to take a trip back there to go check it out once it's open. I think that's worthy, and I will certainly endorse that to the Powers of the Beast, Stephanie. Thanks for mentioning that. Now, another newly prominent chef in New Orleans is Nina Compton. She was one of the host chefs for the America's competition, and also for Team USA. The Victory Party for Team USA, which was quite an evening, that you really didn't get a chance to enjoy too much of, but you were there. Tell us a little bit about Nina Compton and what our listeners should know about her two wonderful restaurants that are in New Orleans. We actually had a friends and family dinner at Bywater, the night or two before the competition. And Chef Nina was just so gracious and warm and welcoming to us. I mean, everyone that we came across in New Orleans, that's just Southern hospitality. But it was such an honor for us to dine at her restaurants and then celebrate with her and her team once we had the outcome of the competition. Brad also had a memorable experience that I want him to share here. Well, please, Bradley, you're on. Yeah, in March of 2023, I went with a team at the restaurant I was working at in England, and we went to New York. Didn't believe it was opening a concept there, and so we had some guest chefs there. And so I met Nina and some of her team in New York a year ago. And so it was really awesome to reconnect and catch up, see some familiar faces again, really just an awesome experience, and she was super hospitable. Food was amazing. It was a great evening. Oh, you know, what a great experience to have in advance of being able to dine in both of her New Orleans restaurants. How would you describe the food it by water? It's the more casual of her two restaurants. It's definitely the more casual, but everything was super flavorful. We had different posters and vegetable dishes, and I think it's more we were just, we were a little antsy because we knew we were competing the next day, but... No, no, at least you got to attend, and at least you got to enjoy part of it. Now, that raucous victory party on the Thursday after the competition at Compare La Pah, how would you describe the food there? Hopefully you got to enjoy some of it because Nina really put out a spread for the team USA victory party, and she was very much there, and she greeted guests, and she went to all the tables. I mean, it was quite an evening. It was awesome, it was really just, you know, we were still running on that high from the award ceremony, and just, you know, we get there, and so many supporting chefs, and friends and family, and it was just such an awesome experience to be there, and just have an amazing meal. She was really, really, really took care of us. It was great. It was the best way to celebrate. Definitely some oxtail that I really enjoy that you don't see on a lot of LA menus. Right, the curry goat and the oxtail, and those are her signature dishes, so I don't think I tried the curry goat, but I know some chefs at my table did, and there are rave reviews all around. That's her signature dish for sure. Tender and flavorful, and if you've never had it before, it's not what you'd expect, and probably good to taste that for the first time, just knowing it's a protein and evaluating it on its flavor profile, and then finding out it might be something that was a little unexpected. Right, right, for sure. And, you know, it's a beautiful restaurant. It's in one of those historic buildings that are almost, you know, on every block in New Orleans, but some, you know, lovely brickwork and, you know, they've added to the features there. It's spacious, it's very comfortable, beautiful bar, and I know you were not able to partake of this, but there was some serious libations that came out from that bar during that evening. Oh, I'm sure I'm sure I'm not inviting at this time on training, but from what I saw, the cocktail was very inviting. Yeah, no, no, you know, we enjoyed on your behalf, Stephanie, what can I say? Now, before we say goodbye, tell us about the return to the training program. You know, what's going on now at NAPPA at the CIA Copia campus? Is it back to the daily training routine? Yeah, of course, we're back to a lot of R&D, and we have a great team of culinary advisors that are helping give us feedback on tasting things. We won't know any of the requirements until for a few months, but there's definitely things that we can R&D and plan for, but we're also trying to have a balance outside the kitchen. And practicing our French porn over old cookbooks, going to different restaurants and, you know, getting inspired by what's around us. Stephanie and Bradley, again, congratulations. It was really a thrill to be able to observe you both in competition in New Orleans, and of course, the outcome was tremendous, and all good wishes on the continued road to Lyon. And we will definitely check in with you before the end of the year. You are listening to the SoCal restaurant show. When we return, we're off to Milwaukee, and a very prominent chef there by the name of Paul Bartolota, who also is involved with the Mentor Foundation and Team USA, and actually was in New Orleans just strictly to encourage and support Team USA. Pretty impressive. It is the SoCal restaurant show we're proudly presented by Melissa's World Variety Proters and West Coast Prime Meats. We'll be right back! [BLANK_AUDIO]
