Gerald Prado
Sophie Rolland
Sophie Rolland
Sophie Rolland
Michael Graydon
Frank Lindner Nina Slagmolen Sander van der Meij
- Alain Passard
Vegetables as a creative resource
Alain Passard uses the shapes, colours and flavours of vegetables just like fashion designers use their fabric and painters their paint. As a creative resource. The main lesson Passard teaches us is that chefs need to learn to respect the seasons and thus the vegetables and all other ingredients used in their kitchens. ‘They shouldn't be meddling with them too much’, says Passard.
Kitchen gardens
At an hour’s drive from Paris, the vegetable chef has three gardens spanning a total of ten hectares. Here the chef cultivates vegetables, fruit and herbs together with his farmers. According to strict biodynamic principles. Freshly delivered straight to the restaurant every
day. Harvesting is done with donkeys and by hand to prevent from disturbing the soil too much. The gardens house sixty to seventy tomato varieties alone.
Vegetables are the star
When Alain Passard opened L’Arpège in 1986 in the centre of Paris, he needed only 10 years to achieve the highest possible feat: three Michelin stars. He owed these stars in part to his meat and fish preparation. At a time when vegetables were mostly being used as decoration, Passard opted for the vegetable cuisine fifteen years ago. Some of his dishes still contain meat and fish, but only to accompany the vegetables. And in minimal portions.
In 2000, a small shock wave rocked the world of gastronomy as French top chef Alain Passard from the Parisian L’Arpège turned his back on meat and fish and elevated vegetables, herbs and fruit to the stars of his menu. Today, the three-starred restaurant L’Arpège is known as one of the best vegetable restaurants in the world, ranked number 8 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list of 2018.
Food Inspiration visited vegetable guru Alain Passard in Paris. During a candid interview, we
asked this artistic chef about his inspiration with regards to vegetables.
VIDEO INTERVIEW
4 min
VEGETABLES INSPIRATION
Sopthie Rolland
Michael Graydon
Frank Lindner Nina Slagmolen
Sander van der Meij
- Alain Passard
Vegetables as a creative resource
Alain Passard uses the shapes, colours and flavours of vegetables just like fashion designers use their fabric and painters their paint. As a creative resource. The main lesson Passard teaches us is that chefs need to learn to respect the seasons and thus the vegetables and all other ingredients used in their kitchens. ‘They shouldn't be meddling with them too much’, says Passard.
Kitchen gardens
At an hour’s drive from Paris, the vegetable chef has three gardens spanning a total of ten hectares. Here the chef cultivates vegetables, fruit and herbs together with his farmers. According to strict biodynamic principles. Freshly delivered straight to the restaurant every day. Harvesting is done with donkeys and by hand to prevent from disturbing the soil too much. The gardens house sixty to seventy tomato varieties alone.
Vegetables are the star
When Alain Passard opened L’Arpège in 1986 in the centre of Paris, he needed only 10 years to achieve the highest possible feat: three Michelin stars. He owed these stars in part to his meat and fish preparation. At a time when vegetables were mostly being used as decoration, Passard opted for the vegetable cuisine fifteen years ago. Some of his dishes still contain meat and fish, but only to accompany the vegetables. And in minimal portions.
In 2000, a small shock wave rocked the world of gastronomy as French top chef Alain Passard from the Parisian L’Arpège turned his back on meat and fish and elevated vegetables, herbs and fruit to the stars of his menu. Today, the three-starred restaurant L’Arpège is known as one of the best vegetable restaurants in the world, ranked number 8 in the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list of 2018.
Food Inspiration visited vegetable guru Alain Passard in Paris. During a candid interview, we asked this artistic chef about his inspiration with regards to vegetables.
4 min