2024-04-18 06:00:00
Born in Clermont-Ferrand, chef Arnaud Faye will take the helm of the prestigious Bristol in Paris on May 20. The Auvergnat, who grew up in Cournon, succeeds a monument of French gastronomy: Eric Frechon, 25 years in the kitchens of the palace and three stars under his belt.
Is there pressure at the idea of taking over the kitchens of the great Eric Frechon?
Of course ! Taking over a house is always pressure. Even more so a house where Eric Frechon, with his three stars, worked for 25 years.
Is Bristol the Holy Grail for a cook?
When I was a little younger, I worked at the Ritz in Paris. These are iconic houses. We are in large units where we don’t just have one restaurant. It’s very “challenging”. They are great teams. It’s a great clientele. It’s a bit like the Holy Grail.
What was the young apprentice of Chaise-Dieu dreaming of?
At the time, I read a book called The Quest for the Starsco-written by Bernard Loiseau (with W. Echikson, in 1995, Editor’s note), also an Auvergne, from Chamalières. This book touched me in the sense that I wanted to seek excellence, to seek out the most beautiful products. From the outset, I planned for myself by telling myself that I would like to do gastro and become like Bernard Loiseau.
How does it make the difference to be Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF)?
There are very great starred chefs who are not MOF, and MOF who are not starred. The MOF is a competition that we often do for ourselves, to gauge ourselves. The most important thing to get out of it is to pass it on. If I hadn’t been passed on, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
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Is excellence difficult to achieve?
I think we never reach it. We each have a vision of excellence which can be quite different. It means knowing how to be demanding with yourself and with others, giving happiness to our customers and ensuring that our employees are happy at work.
How do you create a signature dish?
It is often the customers who decide that it is a signature dish. When, the day she is removed from the map, she wonders. These are recipes that can be the inspiration of the moment with the product of the moment. But, sometimes, it will take two months, three months to achieve what we want, to find the balance of tastes, the right cooking. At the Golden Goat (the restaurant in Èze where he has worked for eight years, Editor’s note), we have a tile made with the markers of a classic pissaladière – anchovies, onions, olives – which took us more than six months to develop. We wanted flavor, little or no gluten, crunch.
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What does your kitchen look like?
It’s a cuisine based on vegetables. The goal is to anchor ourselves in a region, seek out small producers, small fishermen… It’s normal to make the people around us work. Having pretty plates is good, but I’m also working on the density of tastes. It has to pop in the mouth.
My Auvergne origins inspire me: the woods, the mushrooms, these very earthy things… My grandfather had vegetables from the vegetable garden, that comes from there too: working with great products which are made with care and which we respect behind. This youth built me for the future and meant that I became a cook even though I don’t have a cook in the family. We know how cheese is made, what it’s like to milk a cow. We killed the pig at the grandparents’ house. It’s the memory of simple, natural things, real products.
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Do you still have time to cook?
Of course ! At home, I’m the one who always cooks. We go to the market, to small producers, mainly. And at the restaurant, obviously, we give a helping hand, we are there to support them. It’s necessary.
BIO EXPRESS. Arnaud Faye was born on October 29, 1978 in Clermont-Ferrand. He did his apprenticeship in La Chaise-Dieu, in Haute-Loire. His first high distinction came in 2009, when he obtained a second star at L’Espadon, at the Ritz, where he was appointed chef in 2007. Arnaud Faye also worked at the Relais Bernard Loiseau, in Côte-d’Or, or the Mandarin Oriental. In 2016, the Auvergnat was named chef of La Chèvre d’Or, in Èze, where he maintained two stars. He has been Best Worker in France since 2019.
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