Copenhagen, Stockholm, Helsinki.
Frederik X, Carl XVI Gustaf and Alexander Stubb received the very select Club des Chefs des Chefs.
They feed kings, presidents and their guests. In September, two kings and a president receive them.
From the private apartments of Amalienborg to the residence of the Finnish president: story of a “Nordic Tour” of the Club des Chefs des Chefs.
Copenhagen, 1984. A sixteen-year-old teenager, wearing a tuxedo and bow tie, holds a box in his hands. Around him, hats as tall as chimneys. This is his very first official mission. With his brother Joachim, he received, in the name of their father Prince Henrik, an unusual title: honorary member of a cooks’ club. Not just any ones. Those who cook for heads of state.
September 2026. The teenager is king. His name is Frederik X…
…and the Club des Chefs des Chefs returned.
They cook for the Élysée, the White House, King Charles III, Prince Albert II, the Indian president or the German chancellery. They come from around twenty countries, from Canada to Kazakhstan, from Singapore to the Ivory Coast, from Saudi Arabia to Ireland.
Their job is to disappear. A successful state dinner is one where no one thinks about cooking. For a week, however, they were the ones we were waiting for.
1977, a table at Bocuse
A table at Paul Bocuse. Around, men in white jackets who share a secret: they cook for heads of state. Same pressure, same silence, same sleepless nights before an official visit. And yet, they don’t know each other.
Gilles Bragard, designer of clothing for chefs, has an intuition. These shadowy men must meet. He brings them together. The Club des Chefs des Chefs was born.
Half a century later, he is still at the helm. The big guy for every trip. He opens the doors, regulates the audiences, knows each leader by his first name. At his side, Monica Bragard, elegance and warmth combined, the discreet soul of the family.
The Club is today chaired by Christian Garcia, personal representative of Prince Albert II of Monaco for gastronomy. Mark Flanagan, chef to King Charles III, is vice-president. The rule has never changed: once a year, one country. Its products, its tables, its gestures. And, when the door opens, the one we usually feed without ever seeing him.
Copenhagen: the prince of 1984 opens his door
Amalienborg, September 14. Four octagonal palaces, the equestrian statue of Frederik V, the furry caps of the Royal Guard. But on this day, the chefs do not stop at the state rooms. They go up to the private apartments of Frederik VIII’s palace, where the royal family lives. Among them, the head of the King of Denmark. For him, the journey begins at home.
Frederik He guides his visitors himself. Here, monarchical tradition coexists with contemporary Danish art. The chefs stop in front of maps of the world, in front of a textile work with a long weaving process. Details of an inhabited house.
Then comes photography. The grand staircase, the red hangings, the golden banisters. Twenty white jackets in tiers, each embroidered with the arms of a country. In the center, the king, tweed jacket and open collar, frank smile. Not a sovereign who receives a delegation: a host who welcomes friends.
And the Club brought its gift. A chef’s jacket, embroidered with the king’s name. The prince of 1984 finally receives the outfit of those who welcomed him for his first mission.
Two young princes in bow ties. A royal guard motionless in front of his sentry box. Next to him, a row of cooks crouched like a football team before the game. The first official act of the future king had been for them. Forty-two years later, it was the king who opened his house to them.
1984, the first mission of a prince During the Club’s first visit to Denmark in 1984, Prince Henrik was made an honorary member. His eldest son, then aged sixteen, received the distinction in his name, with his brother Joachim. The Danish Royal House specifies that this was the very first official mission of the current king.
Stockholm: a king in a chef’s jacket
The next day, September 15. At the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Carl XVI Gustaf receives the Club in Princess Sibylla’s apartments. Pale green woodwork, gilded trophies, crystal chandelier, oriental rugs. On the wall, in a gilded frame topped with a crown, a portrait in 19th century uniform watches over the scene.
The date is not trivial. On September 15, 1973, Carl XVI Gustaf ascended the throne. On this day, he celebrates fifty-three years of reign, a record in Swedish history.
And it is with the chefs of heads of state that he spends part of it.
Gilles Bragard steps forward. In his hands, a chef’s jacket, embroidered with the name of the king and the coat of arms of the kingdom. The gesture is elegant, and deeper than it seems. For a moment, the roles are reversed: those who serve the sovereigns invite one of them to enter their profession.
The king’s laughter
The king laughs. The photograph captured him in profile, facing the row of white jackets, his eyes narrowed. Oppositely, the leaders laugh with him. No poses. Just a shared moment.
The Club already knows these walls. In 1980, court chef Werner Vögeli welcomed his colleagues there. The kings pass, the leaders too. What remains is a way of doing things, passed down from one generation of cooks to the next. A hearing lasts a few minutes. The memory of kitchens can be counted in decades.
Helsinki: at Alexander Stubb
After two monarchies, a Republic.
On September 17, Alexander Stubb received the Club at his home in Mäntyniemi, the residence where he lives, by the sea.
Designed by architects Raili and Reima Pietilä and completed in 1993, the residence turns its back on the solemnity of classical palaces. No colonnade, no grandiose perspective. High bay windows that reflect the pines, granite steps, volumes that embrace the rock and the northern light.
It is on these steps that the photograph is taken. In the center, the president holds his chef’s jacket with both hands. On the chest, the lion of Finland. Below, embroidered: Alexander Stubb, Finland. At his side, Christian Garcia, Gilles and Monica Bragard. Behind, in stands, the white jackets from around the world.
Salmon, rye and chanterelles
Finland also welcomes chefs through its products, its gestures and its people.
The chefs visit the Hakaniemi Hall, one of Helsinki’s historic covered markets. They collect mushrooms in the forest, eat outdoors, discover the sauna. At Käpylä school, in the north of the city, they join a home economics class, amid the smell of fried chanterelles. Chefs of Heads of State facing Finnish students: the scene has something joyfully disordered, and this is precisely its charm.
Three capitals. Three ways to receive.
Denmark has opened its memory, its apartments and its garden.
Sweden offered a burst of laughter, on the very day of a reign anniversary.
Finland opened a house, then its schools, its forests and its kitchens.
And everywhere, the same gesture: a white jacket, embroidered with a name and a coat of arms, handed to the recipient.
Two Kings and a President are now, to some extent, members of the brigade.
The chefs were invited. However, they did not cease to be leaders. They observed what they know better than anyone to decipher: the preparation of a space, the rhythm of a welcome, the precision that allows a reception to appear simple.
A country never reveals itself more than when it welcomes those who know how to receive.
Sources and credits
Institutional sources
- Royal House of Denmark, “Besøg af Club des Chefs des Chefs” gallery, September 14, 2026: kongehuset.dk
- Royal House of Sweden, audience of September 15, 2026: kungahuset.se
- Royal House of Sweden, biography of H.M. the King (accession to the throne on September 15, 1973): kungahuset.se
- Presidency of the Republic of Finland, presentation by Mäntyniemi: presidentti.fi
- Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, press release dated September 21, 2026: valtioneuvosto.fi
- Club des Chefs des Chefs, history and members: chefs-des-chefs.com/history; chefs-des-chefs.com/members
Press
- Gala store (Sweden), “Kungen tog emot klubben för statschefers köksmästare på Slottet”: galamagasin.se
- News55 (Sweden), “Kungen fick ovanlig gåva när världens hovkockar kom till Slottet”: news55.se
- Hufvudstadsbladet (Finland), visit to the Käpylä school: hbl.fi
Image credits
- Main image: © Kongehuset
- Iconography 1: © Club des Chefs des Chefs
- Icons 2 and 3: © Henrik Garlöv / Kungl. Hovstaterna
- Iconography 4: © Presidency of the Republic of Finland
