After winning gold at the European Chefs' Championship, Phillip Nilsen of Treetop, Munkebjerg Hotel's gourmet restaurant, is now chasing the gold medal at the Bocuse d'Or, the unofficial World Chefs' Championship.

Two months ago, Phillip Nilsen lifted the trophy after winning Bocuse d'Or Europe, which is the unofficial EC for chefs.
Here, Phillip Nilsen was part of the winning two-man team as assistant to the former Geranium chef Sebastian Holberg Svendsgaard.

Before he begins in August six months of intensive training ahead of the Bocuse d'Or – the unofficial World Cup for chefs – in Lyon in January 2025, he is now back in Treetop. Here he is happy that he has contributed to the golden rain , which this year is sprinkled over the gourmet restaurant:
"Treetop is a fantastic workplace with a really high gastronomic standard, and it's great for me to contribute to the restaurant getting the recognition and attention it deserves.

At the same time, I am really happy and proud to have won Bocuse d'Or Europe, because just taking part in the competition has stood for me as an unattainable goal since I started the cookery course," says Phillip Nilsen.

Fifth gold medal for Treetop
In addition to Phillip Nilsen's EC victory in March, his Treetop colleagues have won three gold medals for the Danish championships for professional chefs and waiters in the same month. The historic result was topped off with a fourth gold medal, as Denmark's best waiter from Treetop was also named the Nordics' best soon after. Thus far, the restaurant has won a total of five gold medals this year.

"As much art as food"
The 22-year-old chef is enjoying being back at Treetop after seven months of constant training ahead of Bocuse d'Or Europe:
“It's great to cook real food for real guests again. When we train for the Bocuse d'Or, it's at least as much about art as it is about food."
This is also expressed in the many months of training prior to the competition:
"For the first three months, we train garnishes with many different vegetables, so we have a plan for it, regardless of which dishes we have to make for the competition. At first, it's all about the appearance - that is, about creating small works of art from the vegetables, and only when we are satisfied with the aesthetics, do we start to find out how to prepare it so that it also tastes really good. "