The 7th edition of our Dolce Pétanque Trophy for Chefs sponsored by the Bailliage of Belgium of the Chaîne des Rôtisseurs was again a great success.

[Ed. For the uninitiated, the main objective of pétanque is to throw small metal balls as close as possible to a wooden ball - known as the cochonnet or jack - from the player's fixed position in a circle. Pétanque loosely translates to 'feet together' and refers to the player having both legs together firmly on the ground while making a throw.]

Under the motto "Back to the Roots" (by which we mean back on the beach and with the Chefs as central players) this year we were guests at the Blue Buddha Beach Club in Knokke-Heist where, on the beach, we had seven pétanque lanes at our disposal.

On Tuesday, August 2nd the time had come.

Jean Michel Bourrat, our Obut Pétanque coach, took us back to "classic” pétanque and "agility” pétanque.

The two “patrons” for this edition were Maître Rôtisseur Frederik Deceunick, Chef of the Michelin 1-star Restaurant Sel Gris in Knokke-Heist, and Conseiller Culinaire Jean-Baptiste Thomaes Chef/Owner of the Michelin 2-star establishment Le Château du Mylord at Ellezelles.

Ribbon-wearing Chaîne members joined in the event as Ambassadors and in this way worked on developing the reputation of the Chaîne in Belgium

Our Day

10am - An energizing breakfast to get the day off to a great start.

11am - We started playing in 20-minute time slots.

Lunch - Finger food, drinks and lots of Estandon Héritage Côtes de Provence Rosé!

5pm - Awards Ceremony with beautiful prizes. The First Prize went to the Longchamps Chaîne team!

7pm - The day continued at street food restaurant, Sympathetic, with its outside garden as well as a BBQ at the Cabane restaurant linked to the Hotel Ter Zaele.

11.30pm - After much dancing, the healthy air, relaxation and good food, the day was brought to a close.

Besides much enjoyment being had by all, the excellent result from the event was three new enthusiastic members for the Bailliage.

Ilse Duponcheel
Bailli Délégué
Member of the Conseil Magistral