talk to the chef

A Seasoned PIERREGAGNAIRE Storyteller

With over 50 years experience in the culinary arena, Pierre Gagnaire is a chef with a tale to tell. Namai Bishop meets him at his award winning restaurant London’s Sketch and travels to Rheingau as he Headlines one of the most prestigious International Gourmet and Fine Wine events of the year.

Pierre Gagnaire is without doubt one of the most revered living legends, lauded for his style of groundbreaking, modern French cuisine. Starting simply, way back in 1966 with a humble apprenticeship, just a year later he went on to train with the founding father of French cuisine Monsieur Paul Bocuse followed by working under the mighty Lyonnais Chef Jean Vignard. At his family’s restaurant in Saint-Priest-en-Jarez he honed his skills before launching his own string of successful restaurants, that now span the globe. Gagnaire’s eforts have culminated in him being ranked amongst the fnest Chefs of his generation consistently, awarded threestar Michelin honours as well as receiving accolades from fellow chefs, including the ultimate Chef’s coup: The World’s Greatest Chef voted for by his Michelin peers. Senior he may be, but his seemingly ceaseless energy keeps him in constant state of invention and culinary artistry. As he famously exclaimed on the release of his book “Reinventing French Cuisine” marking an epic 40 years in the industry “I’m still at the

beginning. My best work is still ahead of me, and that’s a promise!”

GAGNAIRE: INVENTOR OF “CULINARY ODDITIES!”

Recognised by his longtime friend and commentator Jean-Francois Albert as a “master of suspense, subtlety and humour” Gagnaire launched what was famously described as Les Insolites (or Oddities). They epitomise his signature style: a magical mystery tour of tastes and textures, presented often on 4 or 5 small plates surrounding the main component of a dish. These have been referred to as “short stories traversing a diverse plain, yet contained therein a craft that is the stuf of novels.” With them the Chef dared to develop back in an era when ‘haute cuisine’ circles decreed stern sobriety and a reverence for tradition, a radical contemporary twist to fne dining. The Chef continues to this day to surprise and delight his guests with these Insolites as he pulls rabbits out of his chef’s toque. How appropriate therefore that the next time I speak to him is in the Alice in Wonderland-worthy setting of Sketch restaurant in the heart of London’s West End.

AN “AWKWARD YOUTH” - AN ARDUOUSPATH

Indeed Gagnaire’s youth was dominated by a love of jazz and football and it was not until much later in life that Gagnaire fully focused on his career as a creative chef. For years, he had been constrained by his formal training and techniques dictated at his family restaurant where he began work at 26. At thirty he opened his own restaurant and in 1992 launched a new restaurant where in just one year he gained three Michelin stars and international acclaim. But his luck turned: in 1996, he lost his restaurant and left the town. It taught Gagnaire an important lesson however, to successfully temper creativity with the practicalities of business. “What made me bounce back was that I’m steady, reasonable - I was never a diva! I always knew it was

about being creative yes, but you’ve also got to pay the supplier! You have to be balancing creativity with commercial reality.” Lessons learned and with an undefeated spirit, he set up in Paris where his tenacity was rewarded: just two years later at his Rue Balzac dining room, he triumphantly regained his three Michelin rating that deservedly, he retains to this day. “I learn to cook, I have cooked, I like to cook....”. This one phrase narrates his own past and present: he says “when I was frst placed in front of the stove, it was without any real desire. I endured cooking and the techniques endured me; the love for the art of cooking came much later.” Once Gagnaire set himself free from the shackles of established rules and recipes and conjured up his own style, he was able to create his own magic. “To cook is to labor. It is a repetitive task that is often arduous, sometimes thankless, and on occasion hazardous. However, it is also an authentic source of happiness when it evolves into creativity. For me, cooking found its true meaning when it ceased to be a blind religion of methods and memories without discernment. Cooking only became daily happiness when I dared to refuse to use the same crippling approach day after day.” The tough years taught Gagnaire lessons he now passes on to his own young chefs. He advises them to look beyond the norm, past the usual realms of what you may consider cooking to be. “Chefs I trained now work all over the world in a range of diferent roles! Success doesn’t come from a 3 Michelin rating or a box-ofce TV show. Rethink what a true Chef is; some of my Chefs are now working in catering, some work on a Safari reserve, some even on a remote Norwegian oil platform! There are many ways to cook. Identify exactly what you want and strive for it. I can’t transmit my skills to my young chefs but I can share my experience and give them the key to express what they have inside them personally. Look for your own voice, don’t just follow convention. Tell your own story!”

NARRATIVE CUISINE

“I use food to tell stories” he told me. He gives me an example of how he searched to bring that narrative and truth in cooking at his restaurant project Fouquets at the Majestic Barriere Hotel in Paris famed Champs Elysées. Here he worked tirelessly to search for the very essence of what Fouquets was, in order to reinvent a long heralded dining institution. “I saw this world famous

PIERRE GAGNAIRE JOINSROUX FAMILY TO JUDGE ROUX SCHOLARSHIP

Gagnaire’s acclaim continues to grow and just last month The Roux family recently announced that Pierre Gagnaire will join the judges at this year’s fnal as Honorary President of the Judges. On releasing the news, Michel Roux OBE stated “I am so delighted to share the Roux Scholarship with my great friend, Pierre Gagnaire as Honorary Judge alongside my son, Alain and nephew, Michel in their debut as joint chairmen. Quite simply, Chef Pierre is a unique talent whose capacity for brilliant innovation is unrivalled and enjoyed across the globe in his acclaimed restaurants. No wonder he has been chosen by two of our scholars as their stage destination of choice, an incredible tribute.” Gagnaire’s reaction was one of characteristic humbleness: “It is a great honour to be a part of this event. I have huge respect for the Roux brothers who were the pioneers of French cuisine in Great Britain. This is a unique event promoting our culinary culture and allowing the next generation of chefs to come out of the shadows for good. I hope I can live up to expectation.”

brand of French Brasserie like a classic car - in a way, a Sketch of the 60’s. But, as is often with a classic, it was in need of repair. So we renovated it!”. Going deep in the bonnet he tinkered until he refined the menu to a simple collection of traditional, basic dishes “a new French, but nothing too creative, trustable, reliable, true”. He adds “It seemed a simple refinement but simplicity can be the most difficult task - it was a challenging project.” Under Gagnaire’s creative talent, it is proving hugely popular and the chain is rapidly expanding, from Marrakesh to Cannes, Courchevel to (upcoming) NYC. All too cautious of Chefs with cookie-cutter establishments and photocopy menus, he adds “you don’t want a cassoulet in Cannes! So we give each destination it’s own adaptation and sense of place” It’s this profound understanding of regionality that has shaped his latest projects.

REGIONALITY

Like with his latest two ventures, Peir (the Chef’s own frst name in Gorde’s local Provençal lingo) and Maison 1888 in Vietnam, Gagnaire speaks steadfastly of a sense of place. In the former, the diminutive dining room with just 18 covers, set deep in the heart of South of France, contradicts all that is contrived about the notions of the Provençal cuisine (cue predictable garlic, olives and tomatoes) and instead looks to

its rich geographical setting, for inspiration. Gagnaire’s narrative turns positively poetic as he reels of examples of the terroir, rich in spring water sources and ochre-coloured lands. He uses these cues to create a culinary picture of the region that is far removed from the parody of Provence. Describing the setting, Gagnaire demonstrated his love of words and how they help him create his menus. Similarly, when he talks of Vietnam, his words are peppered with scents, colours and smells of the land. His words, as he speaks to me in his native French, are consistently positive, colourful and eloquent. This Paris restaurant is in contrast to his own eponymous establishment in the same city. “My Paris house is my place to construct, day after day my own tales. Cooking is my opportunity to spread a feeling. There we experiment, it’s my method of communication. Cooking is a form of therapy to me, to let out my energy, yes even rage when as a young man, I lacked direction and left school early.” Balance is something Gagnaire had found too in his personal as well as professional life. Indeed his upcoming book 5ieme Saison is an ode to the ordered domesticity he has created. With 4 grandchildren, and now 14 years into a new relationship with Sylvie, herself with 3 children, the book was what Gagnaire describes as a “Command Familial” - almost a family obligation. It marks a chapter in his own life where he has found domestic peace. It was not always so. “I’ve made peace with my boys. I was not always there for them. I made choices that meant I gave up a lot for my work and created hurt. I haven’t travelled a straight line! But I have the peace now that those people on that path are now alongside me. Now I have the full support of my family and that’s important to me.”

A WELLSEASONED CHEF

He has been quoted as saying “One does not gingerly enter in my culinary universe!”. A rule breaker, a man of stamina, vitality and enduring passion, he cooks today with the same gusto that that kept him frmly in the game for 50 years. Most palpably however, Gagnaire is a charming and gracious man, personable and warm. “I love people! I love to share with people. Cooking allows me to do that.” “Such is my work. Such is my lifestyle. Such is my life.” And a long and rich one it continues to be. Long live this legend!