SINGAPORE, Feb 23 — It’s the first day of the International Catering Cup in Lyon in France, and Singapore chef Brandon Foo is sweating it.

The 30-year-old head chef of French restaurant Le Bistrot du Sommelier is preparing his dessert, a complicated apple, pear and chocolate cake. And then, disaster — Foo fumbles, and drops both cakes.

He does manage to recover.

"With lots of effort and concentration, I re-organised my station and started new cakes, which I managed to make on time,” he told TODAY in an email interview.

Foo has recently returned to Singapore fresh off his third-place win at the fifth edition of the Catering Cup, where he and his teammate — former chef of Le Bistrot du Sommelier, Chef Patrick Heuberger, 42 — took home the second runner-up prize at the event. It was the first time that a Singapore team had placed in the competition, which is held at the Sirha-Eurexpo — the bi-annual event that also hosts the Bocuse d’Or, aka the Olympics of cooking.

Foo and Heuberger's sides: Trout and Cod in Pastry Croute and Scallop Quenelle and White Wine Sauce.

Foo and Heuberger beat 12 other teams from around the globe in the gruelling competition that ran over two days and which tests caterers on their skills in front of a live audience. The first prize went to Switzerland, while France placed second.

The participating teams had to go through a series of tests that put them through their paces in organising, preparing, and transporting their specific food produce. They then had to set up a buffet table. Contestants also have to clean their kitchens and work spaces.Foo and Heuberger’s winning main dishes were decidedly French — Royale of Foie Gras and Duck, Trout and Cod in Pastry Croute and Scallop Quenelle and White Wine Sauce. There was even a Trilogy of Pork — pork trotters, pork tenderloin and pork belly all in one dish.

All the dishes were painstakingly crafted for the Catering Cup buffet table. The effort to conceptualise the dishes won’t go to waste — Foo, who has been chef de cuisine at Le Bistrot since 2013, is intending to feature them as weekly specials at the Armenian Street eatery.

Foo, who also nabbed the award for Rising Chef of the Year at the World Gourmet Summit in 2014, told TODAY what it took to clinch the third prize in the prestigious contest.

Q: What was it like leading up into the competition and what was training regime like (I understand that you Skyped with a French Chef to train)?

A: Yes, we would Skype with our coach Michel Aninat, a caterer from Charcuterie Cabrie-Aninat, when we trained almost every weekend, for a whole year in the lead-up to the competition. Each live session could last for two hours, depending on what we were doing. When we started the Skype training, we produced a dish a day. But when it got closer to the competition, we prepared all the dishes together, to get the hang of timing.

We used to train once a month before the competition and as the date got closer, we trained twice a month. There wasn’t a lot of time for training, as I still had my business to take care of. Training always happened Sundays, when Le Bistrot Du Sommelier was closed.

Q: What was the hardest thing to do for the competition — what were the toughest dishes, or techniques? What was surprisingly easy?

A: We had a list of ingredients to strictly follow and there was a certain amount of quantity for every products. For instance, we were only given one fish and one trout and had to make do with what we had. We were also not allowed to bring in our own ingredients. With what we were given (even if we weren’t used to working with what that was), we had to come out with world-class dishes. Nothing was easy at this stage of the competition.

Q: What do you think about Singapore Chefs? Do you think we are on par with international chefs? Where do we fall short?

A: Being a chef is about getting a fresh ingredient and having the right execution skills. Skill takes time, endurance and sacrifice (to build). When you look at our young chefs in Singapore today, their focus is fame, money and working less. Some even tend to take short cuts ... (Having the right) mentality is lacking.

Foo and Heuberger's main dish: Trilogy of pork which consists of pork trotters, pork tenderloin and pork belly.

That said, Singapore chefs are full of energy. And Singapore is getting more recognition all over the world. The country is now recognised as a culinary destination.

Q: And what do you think about the current dishes our local chefs are preparing?

A: One word: Confusion. Some local chefs like to use Asian ingredients and (fuse them with Western ingredients or techniques). Personally, if I want to eat at an Asian restaurant, I will go to an Asian restaurant. I don’t understand fusion food. Maybe I’m in the minority. In my restaurant, you will not see me (experimenting with) lemongrass or turmeric with French food.

That’s not to say I don’t enjoy creativity. For instance, (top chef) Jason Tan from Corner house (and formerly from Sky on 57 at Marina Bay Sands) always comes up with new ideas that work.

Q: What did you grow up eating in your family? How does it influence your cooking now?

A: My mum always cooked at home. She cooked Chinese food such as braised chicken, lotus soup, winter melon soup ... She’s Cantonese, and she can really cook. I started cooking for my mum when I was 10 years old and from there, I wanted to become a chef. I find that French food and Chinese food is similar. There’s a lot of braising and stock-making done in both cuisines.

Q: Do you have any advice for aspiring chefs?

A: To become a Chef, you must be passionate as it takes up everything in your life. You spend most of your time in a kitchen, so if you don’t have the passion, you won’t succeed. Travelling is important as well. I spend my holidays (staging) in the kitchens of famous Chefs in France or Switzerland to improve my knowledge and learn more.

Foo and Heuberger's dessert: the Apple, Pear and Chocolate cake.

Q: Now you’ve done well in the Catering Cup, what new things can we expect to see in Le Bistrot du Sommelier?

A: We had to partially close our terrace due to construction in the building next door. Now that’s over, we have a beautiful space under the shadow of the trees and the new building. The idea now is for us to create a nice space (outside) where people can have a bottle of wine and some rillettes in the afternoon, or during happy hour.

I am thinking of competing in the Catering Cup in 2019. I want to go for the gold. ― TODAY

* Le Bistrot du Sommelier is located at 53 Armenian Street (tel: 6333 1982).