On the menu of this special report are all the ingredients for a wickedly lively time : The foundations, today’s actions, the members’ vision and international development.
Contents:
- A foundation built of values : Friendship and excellence
- Necessary turning points
- A shared vision
- Rich in our differences
Over the last 65 years, the association has developed with its times and now encompasses as many a legendary institution as it does contemporary tables. It is precisely therein that the value of such a grouping lies: never forgetting its roots, it thrives on all its talents.
In 1983, Marc Haerberlin was happy to have members of Traditions et Qualités in 12 countries. Today, 25 nations are represented from the five continents. Out of the 30 applications received this year, 28 come from iconic foreign tables. For the association, this speaks to its growing reputation, but it is also a sign of a logical opening to the incredible development of haute gastronomy throughout the world. We offer you four examples, with comments from Nicolas Chatenier.
Nicolas Chatenier is not here by chance. Passionate through and through about the history of gastronomy, he works each day with his team as this association of major figures in the restaurant industry evolves. 65 years of history is no mean feat. Nicolas admires the historical charm of a legendary establishment that represents the image of France, in all its glory, as much as the contemporary, rock-and-roll cuisine of an Alexandre Gauthier. “France alone accounts for 40% of members and will always be on the front line. However, haute cuisine has developed at a blinding pace around us. New destinations are making huge efforts to match our level of refinement on the plate and in the dining room. Globalisation obviously has to be taken into account. Fairy tale successes and superior restaurants can be found all over the world today. We are currently seeing a gastronomic boom in Bangkok, Peru and the Philippines, to name but a few, and I imagine that in the Middle East, Dubai or Mexico, there will probably have some great restaurants emerging in the years to come”.
French know-how as a legacy
Caprice in Hong Kong (with its wine list and cheese cellar), Odette in Singapore (where Cantal-born chef Julien Royer pays tribute to his grandmother), are true embassies of fine dining. Normandy in Bangkok, for example, is a place decorated in the French style, which in this case plays out as flambéing at the pedestal table, a duck press and a Christofle meat trolley. “At Arnaud Dunand-Sauthier’s table, we are legendary in the attention we pay to the customer, in our service, table settings, presence and products from France. The ultimate in the French art of living, in no way antiquated. A true beacon of our know-how, recognised as one of the best French restaurants in Asia.”
A successful transfer to Milan
“Il Luogo di Aimo e Nadia” isthe story of a restaurant that has been open for over 50 years in the outskirts of Milan. The very living legacy of Nadia and Aimo and their daughter Stephanie, a table rooted in 60s Italian cuisine brought back to life by two young people who want to move ahead. “When they took over the restaurant, Fabio PisaniandAlessandro Negrini opened a test laboratory in Aimo’s former office. They kept the traditional Zuppa etrusca and Al Cipolotto spaghetti with sweet spring onions and peppers, but didn’t stop there. We have the best of both worlds here”.
The experience at its height
Ultraviolet is totally avant-garde: 10 places set at a single table and 20 dishes in succession. The music and screen projections are part of an overall multi-sensory experience that takes the cuisine of a « dog-headedly perfectionist » French chef even further. We have a secret meeting in a place in Shanghai and are bringing you along for this incredible, extremely emotional and above all very tasty experience. “Paul Pairet is an erudite chef who knows the technique behind cuisine extremely well. He has worked on every cooking method for every French product. He is pursuing a dream, that of a restaurant of the future where everything is about experience. It is the table of the future, yet also fully in step with its legacy of precision and rigour. Even if he is transforming it, Paul does not forget French know-how”.
Atmosphere above all else
Sat Bains built itself. Admittedly, the Punjabi-born English chef did not have a golden childhood. With ambition, he chose to move with his wife Amanda to Nottingham, rather than Oxford or Mayfair, so that his clients would come to him for good reasons. Sat Bains joined Les Grandes Tables du Monde in 2018. “Imagine a fairly cramped locale in a suburb of Nottingham, but a welcome so warm that you forget where you are. Sat has amazing energy, he’s like an English « Laurent Petit”. There are a few similar examples in the association, people who have come from nowhere and written admirable stories for themselves. We are very proud that beautiful people like him integrate so well.”
THE OTHERS ARTICLES ABOUT « LES GRANDES TABLES DU MONDE » :
1/ A foundation built of values : Friendship and excellence
Crédits photo
Dossier Les Grandes Tables du Monde :
©Kris Maccotta, ©La Fourchette des Ducs, ©Marie Pierre Morel, ©Restaurant Michel Trama, ©Restaurant
Steirereck, ©Paolo Terzi, ©Scott Wright, © Restaurant Sat Bains ,©Restaurant Le Normandie.