Team GB demands porridge among Michelin-starred dishes at Paris 2024

The Olympics are moving from McDonald’s to Michelin stars, with the famously gourmet French driving a revolution in high-end dining in the athletes’ village. For Team GB, however, there is a red line that must not be crossed with the introduction of artichoke, sheep’s cheese shavings and truffle: porridge must also be on the menu.

A hearty breakfast is a mainstay of the British team, Olympic officials have explained, as they have launched a radical overhaul of the food offering.

Two-Michelin-starred Amandine Chaignot, Alexandre Mazzia and Akrame Benallal are among the most prominent French chefs who have inspired proposals that are nothing like previous Games. At London 2012, for example, one in five meals eaten by athletes was prepared by an on-site McDonald’s. Usain Bolt, the fastest man in history, said he won the first of his eight Olympic gold medals in Beijing in 2008 by eating 100 Chicken McNuggets a day.

The fast food chain’s sponsorship deal with the Olympics has since expired and the Parisian organisers have now moved to a more upmarket offering than ever before.

Philipp Würz, Head of Food and Beverage at the Games, said: “A very specific French speciality that we have set up in the Main Village, also close to the bakery, is the kitchen of our Michelin-starred chef. So, twice a day, the athletes can also go there and experience French cuisine of the highest standard and scale, prepared on site by our Michelin-starred chefs.

“We have four of them, and they each make eight recipes, so we have a nice rotation as well. It’s become a very popular place because the bakery and the chef’s corner are close to each other, which makes it a really cool place for athletes to experience all things French.”

The city, known as the center of world gastronomy, will also host the healthiest Olympics, Wurz said. “There is significantly less junk food,” he said. “The athletes come to the largest restaurant in the world. They are amazed both by the architectural layout of the main dining room, but also, and this is even more important for us, by the quality of the recipes and the dishes offered. We tried to come up with a very specific plan with French know-how, the expertise French cuisine, which of course has a reputation throughout the world.

An on-site bakery produces 480 metres of baguettes per day, he explained, “or 6 km for the entire Olympic and Paralympic Games”.

Asked about specific requests from the British team, he said: “There’s porridge, but that’s the only one I remember, actually, from the British Isles.” Other specific requests included kimchi for the Koreans, sticky rice for the Chinese delegation and “skewers” for the Japanese, he added.

He added that appetites and tastes differ greatly between sports. Beach volleyball and taekwondo teams ask for cold meats, sandwiches and salads, while rowing teams demand “hot buffets”. Badminton teams, mainly Asian, he added, “are not big fans of bread” while sports “dominated by European delegations would then find a rather basic catering programme of English, French or German style”.