WASHINGTON — For the first time ever, the U.S. won “the Olympics of cooking.” On Jan. 25, a team of 10 American chefs, led by Matthew Peters (Per Se and The French Laundry), took home the gold at the famed Bocuse d’Or chef biannual competition in Lyon, France. NPR reports the chefs had to battle through 18 months of qualifying rounds. In the finale, they had less than 6 hours to create two dishes: an interpretation of chicken and crayfish and a vegan dish. “It’s hard to exaggerate the importance of this, at least in the food world,” writes Bloomberg‘s Kate Krader, who goes on to add that Peters and his team beat 23 other skilled teams from around the world. The U.S. team was coached by renowned chef Thomas Keller. Second and third place went to Norway and Iceland, respectively. In 2015, the U.S. took second place in the competition. It was the only other time the Americans were on the winners’ podium. 

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