”Behind the organizers, many personalities have contributed to making the Bocuse d´Or what it is today. One outstanding example is Sven-Gunnar Svensson, who created the first professionnal structure entirely dedicated to the Swedish delegation, thus demonstrating the level of efficiency that could be obtained when both the chefs and the industries of a country were totally involved and supportive of their candidate. This organization served as a model for many others.”

”The Bocuse d´Or, it has to be said, has contributed to real gastronomic revolutions in various countries. Scandinavia is a point: Sven-Gunnar Svensson, a Swedish journalist and gourmet aficionado, has written that ”the Bocuse d´Or, an event at which Sweden has participated five times, has enabled this nation to stake its claim alongside the leaders of world gastronomy”. In the face of such enthusiasm, Sweden created the Swedish Bocuse d´Or Academy in 1990. The result speaks for itself: the country now has a large number of restaurants at the top of the list of gastronomic centres.”

”We (the Swedish) arrived in Lyon equipped for a banger race and found ourselves in a Formula 1 track. Christer Lingström marinated his salmon, which took five minutes, and then struggled to fill the remaining four and a half hours before making the sauce…” Sven-Gunnar Svensson, journalist and founder of the Bocuse d´Or Academy in Sweden.”

”The two year training is as important as the award: training with your assistant chef, feeling all-powerful in your kitchen and being supported by your wife, as I was, are all unforgettable memories” Mathias Dahlgren, Bocuse d´Or 97, Bon Lloc restaurant in Stockholm.”

”Den givna frågan är förstås varför just Skandinavien lyckas så bra tävlingen (EM för KOCKAR i Stavanger, 1. Norge, 2. Danmark, 3. Sverige). Legendariske tävlingsgrundaren Paul Bocuse var på plats bägge tävlingsdagarna i Stavanger, och på presskonferensen efter tävlingen ger han äran för våra framgångar åt en speciell svensk. Sven-Gunnar Svensson har gjort fantastiskt mycket för tävlingen. Norske Eyvind Hellström (Bagatelle i Oslo) har följt i hans fotspår. Tack vare dem placerar sig Skandinavien nu så högt i tävlingen.”