28-04-2014
A scene taken from the storyboard of "In the kitchen with Alain Passard" by Christophe Blain, published in Italy by Bao Publishing, 88 pages, 15 euros (the English version was published last year by Chronicle Books). This graphic novel sheds some light on one of the greatest (and wariest) chefs in the world - since 1986 at the helm of restaurant Arpège in Paris, 3 Michelin stars. It also contains 14 unpublished recipes
The beautiful book translated in Italy by Bao Publishing, “In the kitchen with Alain Passard” by Christophe Blain, didn’t make too much noise on its publication. It is beautiful for various reasons: it is a graphic novel based on a chef – one of the very first in the kind – and it is signed by a great French comic artist, a very fun one. We can already bet on the future success of this genre in the gastronomic circuits.
The book cover of the Italian edition, you can buy it here
Passard took over the establishment in Rue de Varenne in 1986, after Alain Senderens, a Nouvelle Cuisine guru and his master. He changed the restaurant’s name from Archestrate to Arpège and led it straight away to one (1987), then two (1988) stars, and a few years later (1996) to the highest achievement. It’s funny how, in a scene in which the chef speaks with Blain, the pupil bucks off his master: «I’ll never open a second restaurant», he tells the comic artist who had the honour of watching his work behind the scenes for weeks, «I enjoy cooking, with people coming exactly for this reason. It seems that all of a sudden for other chefs this is no longer the case. They’re never in the restaurant. They’re no longer interested. Even Senderens, my master, one of the founders of the contemporary chef myth. He’s a genius, but I cannot do without the action in the kitchen».
Alain Passard, 57 years old. In between his pupils, Pascal Barbot, Adeline Grattard, François Chartier and Bertrand Grébaut
This is where we arrive to the most incredible part of the book: the comic artist’s trip to the vegetable garden in Fillé sur Sarthe, Passard’s real Eldorado, a 2-hour drive from the capital, 4 hectares of cultivated land and 55 of forest, the source of most of the vegetables you will find at his table in Paris. «Four tons of tomatoes and 2 and a half of onions come from here», Sylvain explains. «See those apple trees? Each one gives life to a different fruit». They are essential for the making of Bouquet de rose, his famous rendition of apple cake, «it’s the best recipe I have ever created», Passard lightens up at one point.
Sylvain, Passard’s trusted horticulturist
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born in Milan, 1973, freelance journalist, coordinator of Identità Golose World restaurant guidebook since 2007, he is a contributor for several magazines and teaches History of gastronomy and Culinary global trends into universities and institutes. twitter @gabrielezanatt instagram @gabrielezanatt
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