magnus B. carlsen

”Why compete? I love to compete,” he says softly. I have been passionate about competitive cooking ever since I discovered I truly loved to cook!” Magnus Carlsen is, with all due respect, probably not the most extrovert of chefs you will ever meet. As he sits there, deep in thought, at his home away from home, Restaurant Alchemist, he weighs his words carefully and speaks softly. Yet, here he is talking about his role as what could easily considered a favorite at this year’s Rising Star edition of the Sol Over Gudhjem cooking contents. And the words that come out of his mouth, however soft, are some of the most passionate and honest you will hear from the mouth of a young chef.

once upon a time…not really!

“How it all started? Look, it is probably not the perfect storyline or fairytale, you are looking for,” he continues honestly, heading back to the beginning of his tale. “You know, the story of standing with your your grandmother at the stove, stirring the pots. No,” he confesses, “much more than that, it was more of a simple matter me needing something to do with my time. But when I figured out, I loved to cook,” he says, “it consumed me entirely, and it has consumed me ever since.”

The very day he truly became hooked on cooking, he goes on to explain, was the exact same day he took part in his first culinary competition. “It was an oyster cooking competition,” he recalls, “and it changed something in me. It changed me completely. At that very moment, something just clicked, I realized I loved to cook and I realized I loved to compete.”

“This is the dream, I have to pursue,” Magnus thought to himself that very day, “and I have worked hard ever since to pursue that dream.” He has practiced. A lot, he says. He has become much more determined, he feels, and confident, too. Much more grounded, he assures. “Really, a lot has happened to me on a personal level since finding my calling,” he confesses, “how I tackle situations at work or at home. I have evolved,” he smiles, “and become much more chill.”

As a listener, you are inclined to agree. Magnus Carlsen, who 16 months ago, at Kartoffelprisen 2020 was to some degree struggling to put into words his thoughts and drive, seems older, confident and wiser.

“At the end of the day,” he now states confidently, “this is what makes me want to get up the next morning.” Really, he goes on to question, why would anybody want to become a chef, were it not for some greater reason? Or with some sort of goal or purpose? “What would you want to achieve with all that hard work,“ he asks, “if not your dreams or personal goals?”

Bring it!

It seems a perfectly reasonable question. For, the prodigal young chef, the goal is what drives him and his work ethics: To compete in and to win competitions. In fact, to one day win Sol Over Gudhjem, Denmark’s perhaps most prestigious annual cooking competition, is a personal goal and dream of his, he reveals.

And to the determined young man, competing in, and hopefully winning, the appropriately named Sol Over Gudhjem Rising Star – that is the upcoming talent portion of the greater spectacle – is a great natural step along the way. But how exactly does the young chef aspire to win first price, as is so clearly his desire?

“This year, in the kitchen,” his eyes flash with emotion and determination once more, “you will see me bring my best game ever,” he promises. Then goes on to reveal that whenever anything major is at stake, he steps into what he calls his “competition mindset.”

“It is my favorite place to be,” he says confidently. “Deep in that creative process. To me, that is the coolest feeling ever. When you hit that space where ideas flow freely. I can lie awake for nights on end when I am in this space. As I toy around with new ideas.”

“When I have been working on something all day, I will usually spawn a new idea at the end of the day and I will then lie awake all night, perfecting it. When I hit that level in the creative process – and this happens at some point whenever I am training for a competition – that is when I truly relax. That is when I know everything is going to be okay.”

The wizard’s apprentice - learning from the best

It seems, to the casual reader, perhaps a bewildering way to relax. But maybe it all makes a strange kind of sense when you look to Magnus’ mentor. The man who, Magnus says, taught him most of what he knows. The man who is, himself, one of the most gifted and celebrated young Danish chefs of all time. And took a very young Magnus under his wings in his kitchen – Rasmus Munk, head chef of Restaurant Alchemist.

“He is my greatest role model as a chef and as a person,” Magnus says of his mentor. “When he enters into his creative way of thinking, nobody can tag along. His ways of developing ideas and the pace at which it happens. His attention to detail. The thoughts behind his works. There is meaning to everything, even if sometimes you do not realize it at first. It. Is. Ridiculous,” he stresses.

Overthinking can be a rather dangerous thing, of course, the young chef admits, but it is mostly for the better, he argues. As long you learn how to control it. And control, just as restraint, is a word that become painfully important with time. As upcoming talents like Magnus become role models for younger talent in the industry by competing in increasingly prestigious cooking competitions.

When suddenly the people becomes the inspiration, what would people like Magnus say to inspire them to pressing on but stay grounded?

Believe in yourself and follow your dreams!

“I would tell them to follow their dreams,” he says, now speaking from the heart without a millisecond of pause. “When you feel like giving up, carry on. As hard as humanly possible. If I could inspire to that,” he nods, “I would be more than pleased with myself.”

“For young people like me who would like to compete, I would say this, very simply: Believe in yourself!” He stresses the last three words with confidence and strength, before turning thoughtful again: “I have been insecure myself for periods of my life. I know a lot of young people have. But I have worked a lot with myself to counteract that.“

“You need to get rid of those bad energies and believe in yourself. If negative thoughts appear, acknowledge them, but do not let them in. Follow your dreams, like I have, and hopefully you will end up in as good of a space as I have,” he states calmly. “I have been very lucky, I realize that, but everybody can achieve what I have achieved. If only they want it badly enough.”

And then, at the end of the day, how does it feel to have followed your heart, sacrificed and won? To that final question, a confident and much more grounded Magcus Carlsen has but one reply. “How do I feel? Fantastic,” he smiles gratefully, heading into the perhaps most important competition of his life. “I could think of no place, I would rather be at this time!”