The 2024 Olympics in Paris are fast approaching and while all eyes are naturally on the athletes, there’s a whole cohort of professional chefs doing culinary gymnastics in the background. Throughout the Games, the Olympic Village restaurant feeds tens of thousands of athletes, while surrounding commissaries turn out dishes for special guests and media teams. Ahead of the official start of the Paris Olympics 2024, we spoke to chef Melissa Chickerneo, who’s been an Olympic chef six times over.

A chef of over 24 years, Chickerneo is the corporate executive chef at Behind the Scenes Catering and Events (BTS) in San Diego, California. For the Paris Olympics 2024, she and her team will prepare dishes for ​​top sponsors, VIPs, and National Olympic Committees. “Each Olympic experience has afforded me the opportunity to cook alongside local chefs using local ingredients,” says chef Chickerneo. With her Paris menu all set, she shared with us the essential kitchen tools that will help her and her team in the kitchen, from Japanese mandolines to Nespresso espresso makers. Plus, all her picks happen to be on sale.

Essential Kitchen Tools, According to a Professional Chef at the Olympics

• Benriner Japanese Mandoline, $49, originally $55
• Nespresso VertuoPlus Espresso Maker, $170, originally $200
• Starfrit Electric Rotato Peeler, $20, originally $25
• Vitamix 5200 Blender, $400, originally $550
• Vollum Vegetable Spiralizer, $53, originally $61
• PolyScience Smoking Gun, $120, originally $150

Benriner Japanese Mandoline

“Benriner mandolines are known as the gold standard of mandolines,” says chef Chickerneo. “They’re portable, compact, and hold a sharper edge for longer.” She and her team will use the mandoline to quickly shave radishes, shred carrots, and more.

Nespresso VertuoPlus Espresso Maker

To energize her team each year, chef Chickerneo turns to the Nespresso espresso maker. “It goes without saying that many of us working the Games are working long hours and enduring jet lag, so coffee is key to survival!” Chickerneo calls the Nespresso espresso machine “a time-honored tradition in most workspaces at the Olympics.” In a high-intensity environment like the Olympics, Chickerneo appreciates the espresso maker’s compact size, ease of use, and consistency. “All you do is add water and pods and voilà! Espresso!”

Starfrit Rotato Peeler

“At our high-end hospitality house, we’re featuring a ‘French 75’ cocktail. A traditional French 75 is garnished with a fresh lemon twist. We plan to make over 3,000 of these cocktails during the Games.” In order to efficiently make consistent lemon twists, Chickerneo is bringing a Starfrit Rotato Peeler. “Originally designed to help peel potatoes and apples, we have discovered that it can make 15 lemon twists in about 10 seconds. This saves our bartender hours of labor. The best part is that the lemon twists are nearly identical.”

Vitamix 5200 Blender

“Vitamix blenders are an indispensable tool for any professional kitchen,” according to chef Chickerneo. “They are so versatile in helping us make fresh vinaigrettes, smooth soups, and emulsifying sauces. Just today one of our chefs made a wonderful raspberry coulis they used to garnish a Tart Citron.” This Vitamix 5200 blender happens to be our top pick for a professional-grade blender — and it’s nearly 30% off.

Vollum Vegetable Spiralizer

For this year’s Olympics in Paris, chef Chickerneo is giving a nod to French cuisine with the help of her Vollum vegetable spiralizer. “As in any true French kitchen, no dish is complete without the garnish,” says Chickerneo. “We use the spiralizer to make everything from simple carrot ribbons to garnish salads, to making raw celery root slaw to garnish a beef Bourguignon hors d’oeuvre. Best part is, it doesn’t require a power supply.”

PolyScience Smoking Gun

Speaking of the opportunity for her team to innovate throughout the Games, Chickerneo shares, “We are tasked with creating delicious and exciting food for guests who are often eating all three meals a day for upwards of 10 weeks with us. So, we love having tools that help expand our creative abilities such as a PolyScience smoking gun.” Chef Chickerneo’s team uses this tool to make popular dishes like “smoked baby carrots garnished with local honey and toasted pistachios” and “a smoked tomato vinaigrette,” which is “always a crowd pleaser.”