Xavier Rousseau spent 12 years as the chef at Roland-Garros before receiving the call that would change his career. Since August 2017, he has been the one deciding what the French national team, including Kylian Mbappé, eats at every training camp and every World Cup.
He trained with Paul Bocuse and in legendary kitchens such as Ledoyen and Taillevent, but it was at the 2018 World Cup in Russia that his name reached the players in a different way: he prepared some stir-fried pasta that Antoine Griezmann and Paul Pogba asked for again and again, until it became part of the team’s routine.
Today, as France prepares in Boston, Rousseau is still there, with the same goal as always: that the food performs just as much as the player who needs it.
