LA CONDESA

Michelin Star-awarded restaurant invests in Funktion-One to enhance its overall dining experience.

Located on Rue Rodier in Paris’s 9th district, La Condesa stands as a culinary gem in one of the city’s most exciting food destinations. The area boasts a diverse range of restaurants, cafes, and bars, offering innovative cuisine and unique dining experiences. La Condesa, one of the first Michelin Star-awarded restaurants in the district, is setting standards in more ways than one.

Intent on complementing his gastronomic standards with a high-end audio experience, owner Chef Indra Carrillo Perea selected a Funktion-One loudspeaker system for the venue.

The restaurant draws its name and inspiration from the vibrant neighbourhood of La Condesa in Mexico City. Known for its art deco architecture, galleries, trendy shops, parks, and dining experiences. La Condesa, which means ‘Countess’ in Spanish, is where Chef Indra began his culinary journey at the age of 12. This connection to his roots made it an obvious choice for the name of the restaurant.

La Condesa’s emblem, the hummingbird, is born from Chef Indra’s childhood memories of hummingbirds entering his family home, and its significance in Mexican culture. The hummingbird symbolises the importance of never forgetting one’s origins while constantly moving forward. It serves as a reminder to cherish the past and embrace the future.

Chef Indra’s culinary journey began with an apprenticeship and developed through academic training at the Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon. Working in some of the world’s finest restaurants and training with culinary masters in various fields, Chef Indra cultivated his own unique style. This led to the establishment of his first restaurant, La Condesa, which was awarded a Michelin Star in 2019, making him the first Mexican chef in France to achieve this coveted recognition.

When it comes to fine dining, every detail matters, including the audio experience. Chef Indra explained his high standards: “We wanted to give the best environment and experience possible to the guests coming to La Condesa and precision is something we value and seek in every element and interaction. Excellence is what drives us on our daily basis as a restaurant and as a team and we seek to work and be surrounded with people with the same passion and values.

“The pursuit of precision is in everything, in every detail. Precision to me is being present. Present with all my senses, appreciating, rediscovering moment by moment everything around me. This allows me to innovate and create new dishes.”

The collaboration between Chef Indra and architect Camille Flammarion, his long-time creative accomplice, produced a welcoming venue with a warm and intimate atmosphere. A key consideration in the restaurant’s design was the integration of a sound system that not only met performance requirements but also worked with the modern aesthetic.

Chef Indra contacted his cousin, Ramón Salazar, owner of Loto Audio (Funktion-One’s distributor for Mexico) who supplied La Condesa’s sound system in collaboration with Funktion-One’s French distributor, Solution One. In response to Salazar’s advice, and prior to installation of the Funktion-One sound system, soundproofing work was carried out to improve the acoustics, ensuring optimal sound distribution and volume control throughout the venue – in the three dining rooms, kitchen, and other areas.

La Condesa Paris chose Funktion-One sound to enhance the dining experience. Chef Indra commented: “Funktion One’s sound design gently leads us to align our mind, body and spirit to embark on this succulent journey through flavours, textures and colours that will last in our memory. Even before taking the first bite, the journey has already begun.”

Salazar’s colleague at Loto Audio, Alexander Danielewicz, explained: “Chef Indra was convinced that the missing element in the recipe was a great sound system to add to the restaurant and complete the experience with audio. The system, like all Funktion-One sound systems, delivers low distortion, high efficiency and superb natural sound,” he added. “The signature Funktion-One midrange purity and acoustic imaging yield great results for this install.”

For this installation, Loto Audio primarily focused on two Funktion-One Compact Range models: the ultra compact F5 mid/ high speaker and the SB8 bass enclosure. Logistics and video meetings played a vital role in the planning stages, before culminating with Loto Audio completing the installation in early 2023. Salazar explained: “The request was to have a perfect audio experience to complement the restaurant’s very high standards of cuisine. We installed everything in only two days and the result was really great. La Condesa Paris is one of the best restaurants in the world and the sound system fits their standard.”

Chef Indra feels La Condesa pays attention to a part of restaurant design that is often ignored or forgotten. He said: “Music is such an important element and sometimes not taken into account in fine dining restaurants. With Loto Audio and Funktion-One we wanted to create a unique environment to all of the senses, an immersive experience with the best possible sound system. The answer then seemed obvious, having already experienced different concerts with the outstanding quality of Funktion-One.”

In the world of gastronomy, where excellence is everything, La Condesa has set new standards by integrating a world-class sound system into its culinary journey. The fusion of exceptional cuisine and extraordinary audio is a testament to Chef Indra’s unwavering commitment to perfection.

Danielewicz concluded: “From the early days in this project, everything went smoothly. It felt great to collaborate on this with something we live for and are so passionate about. When we were finishing the system tuning, Chef Indra decided it was a good idea to create the first meals in his very new Mauviel 1830 Kitchen with custom BonnetThirode Maestro piano. He fired everything up and made dinner. It was amazing.”