Marcelino’s Journey
Marcelino began his culinary journey in Argentina, earning a Gastronomy degree from Gato Dumas. Further studies took him to the Basque Culinary Center, where he secured a master's in culinary creativity and an R&D scholarship. Afterward, he delved into research at Fundacion Alicia before joining the el Bulli Research Foundation, working closely with Ferran Adrià writing the book Te cuento en la cocina. Determined to compete in the Bocuse D’or, Marcelino Worked in Copenhagen at Geranium, learning the ways of a kitchen inherently connected to the Bocuse D’or.
Back in Argentina, he represented the Bocuse D'or Team as president, reaching Lyon. He then worked as an R&D chef at Alchemist before joining Mirazur in Menton as a R&D chef. Marcelino coached the Colombian team to Lyon in 2021 and now prepares for the Bocuse D'or Final in Lyon 2025 as the candidate for the Italian team, after having achieved a seventh place in the European final in Trondheim, Norway.
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2014
R&D Chef. Alicia Foundation -Spain
R&D Chef. Basque Culinary Center - Basque Country`2015
Pastry Teacher. Gato Dumas - Colombia2016
Content developer. El Bulli Lab - Barcelona2017
Pastry chef. Geranium restaurant - Denmark2018
Pastry chef. Geranium restaurant - Denmark
President Bocuse d’Or Argentina. Bocuse d’Or Americas. 3rd place2019
President Bocuse d’Or Argentina. Bocuse d’Or final Lyon.2020
R&D Chef. Alchemist restaurant - Denmark2021
R&D Chef. Mirazur restaurant- France
Coach Bocuse d’Or Colombia. Bocuse d’Or Final - Lyon2022
R&D Chef. Mirazur restaurant - France2023
Candidate Bocuse d’Or Italy. 1st place National.2024
Candidate Bocuse d’Or Italy. Final Europe Norway 7th place.2025
Candidate Bocuse Dor Italy. Final Lyon 9th place.2026
R&D Chef. Mirazur restaurant- Menton, France
ABOUT THE CHEF‘Chase your dreams relentlessly, fight for them no matter what, visualize the end of the road, stay consistent, and never give up. Surround yourself with good people.’
Representing Italy in the world’s most demanding culinary competition was a defining moment in my career, shaping my approach to creativity, precision, and teamwork at the highest level of gastronomy.
Bocuse d’Or
Competing in the Bocuse d'Or represented the highest goal of my career: reaching the final and representing Italy on one of the most demanding stages in gastronomy. Sharing that journey with my team made it an unforgettable experience that pushed us to work at the highest standards.
Each final became a complete project, involving research, concept development, technical design, and intensive training under strict timelines and very high expectations. The pressure is not only technical but also creative.
It requires building a clear vision, standing behind it, and translating it into precise results on competition day.
The Bocuse d’Or also shaped the way I approach my work. It taught me how to build a world-class project from the ground up, where every detail matters, from concept and design to repetition, timing, and execution. It also confirmed something essential: the highest level is never reached alone. Sharing that experience with my team under real pressure made it a truly collective journey from beginning to end.
An unforgettable journey
in three stages:
2023
2024
2025
National Selection
My preparation started at home, literally. I’m Italo-Argentinian, and at that time I was living in Argentina while preparing to represent Italy. With limited resources and no dedicated training facility, I built a full competition-style training box in my garage to replicate the contest environment as closely as possible. I also developed the tray and the full set of garnishes, proteins, and molds from scratch at home, using as a starting point a tray component originally used by Team Colombia at the 2021 World Final kindly lent to me after my experience coaching the team.
Later, I traveled to France, where TH provided a space for training and preparation ahead of the Italian national final. One week before the competition, my team and I moved to Rimini, set up our mise en place from an apartment, and headed into the final, where we ultimately won.
RIMINI, ITALY. 2023
TRONDHEIM, NORWAY. 2024European Final
Once we won the National Championship, it opened the door for us to become the official team representing Italy at the European final in Trondheim, Norway. This changed everything: I became part of the Bocuse d’Or Italy Academy, which provided us with a dedicated training space. My team and I relocated to Veria, Italy, six months before the competition.
We split those six months between research and development and intensive training. During that period, we developed the tray, as well as both the fish and meat courses. About a month before the event, we focused entirely on final rehearsals to ensure we were ready for Norway.
In Trondheim, we finished in 7th place, which secured our spot among the top ten teams out of twenty countries, qualifying us for the world final in Lyon.
LYON, FRANCE. 2025World Final
After qualifying in Trondheim, we returned to Italy, and I took a short break in Argentina. During that time, I went back to my garage, where the journey had begun, to start developing new garnishes and ideas for Lyon. About five months before the world final, we resumed full-scale development back in Italy.
In Lyon, we continued working with the same concept we had chosen for the tray, but the challenge was even tougher this time. Coming off the European final meant we had to rethink and restart the project almost from scratch, as the rules had changed significantly. We now had to present two trays and integrate completely new ideas under the updated regulations, making the Lyon final particularly demanding.
Despite these challenges, we achieved our goal of finishing among the top ten teams, even though there's always that desire to place even higher.
