On June 28, competitors in France’s Burger Cup championship showed how the flavors and products of France’s regions could be elegantly paired to the fast-food classic, turning it into an icon of French cuisine.

Over 400 chefs and bakers entered the competition, and only five left with an award. From one year to the next, the French Burger Cup is fuelling more and more excitement among fans of making great taste affordable for everyone… to the point where this year’s jury, presided by the Michelin-starred chef David Gallienne, couldn’t decide between the top two candidates and wound up dividing first prize between them.

With his Nemausus, Joannes Richard amplified the tastes of the Gard region, which he showcases with poetry, suiting the 2021 edition’s “Retour aux sources” (Back to Our Roots) theme to a T. The self-taught chef, who runs a market stall called Chez Jo, presented a burger with house-made hay-smoked heirloom-tomato ketchup, pickled sea asparagus, fried sweet onions from the Cévennes, Tomme d’Arles cheese, tender baby spinach leaves, and aged “black beef,” a specialty from the Camargue… The fact that it was both unusual and, above all, skillfully balanced, seduced the jury of the competition organized by Socopa Restauration, a wholesale meat specialist.

“It’s an homage to the area around Nimes, my hometown, and to the Camargue and the Cévennes – regions I have always loved exploring, where I’ve been going on vacation since I was a kid – and to the products that I’m used to eating,” the champion explained.

At his side on the top step of the podium, Stéphane Giroud, from the Maison Pouilly bakery in Montbrison (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region) who presented his Cafi Ligérien, a burger composed around andouille from Charlieu cooked in wine and fourme de Montbrison cheese turned into “cromesquis” (breaded cheese sticks), served with potatoes baked overnight in cream…

Two particularly “gourmet” burgers… In fact, in Joannes Richard’s opinion, that’s the signature quality of a French burger. “Our beef steaks are generally both thicker and of high quality (NB: his weigh 150g (1/3 lb.) and come from Aubrac cattle), our products are noble – more and more so – and our culinary techniques more elaborate… It’s actually “bistronomic.”

A 32-year-old former rugby player, Joannes Richard puts his training as a nutritionist to good use in his creative, authentic dishes, which he serves up at the traditional covered market in the center of Nîmes. His atypical background is reflected in his menu, which he reworked during France’s pandemic lockdowns, in order to make his dishes more suitable for take out. Chez Jo, everything is house-made “from A to Z.” The competition’s impact has been such that he’s already planning to open a second establishment.

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