Remembering Bernard Loiseau

Today Bernard Loiseau would be 63. He would have celebrated his birthday in January. He was 52 when in February 2003 he committed suicide by shooting himself in the mouth – his palate had an out-of-the-ordinary elegance, even when compared to the great protagonists of world cuisine. His story, his parabola, is beautifully told in "The Perfectionist. Life and Death in Haute Cuisine", the book by American author Rudolph Chelminski. Three Michelin stars as of 1991 at Côte d'Or in Saulieu, in Bourgogne, the first to go public in the stock market, the Léggion d’Honneur in ’94, everything, including the fear of loosing the highest acknowledgement together with a bipolar disorder that was fatal when the GaultMillau decreased his vote from 19/20 to 17 and rumours began that the next guide to decrease its rate would be the Michelin guide.

This was the end, for him only because his Côte d'Or never lost the third star, with chef Patrick Bertron, beside him right from the start, and his widow Dominique Loiseau at the helm. She celebrates the memory of her husband also through an event that is going to take place for the ninth time since 2006 in Mauritius. The date is set for this Saturday, tomorrow, on the Indian Ocean island, the grand finale next Saturday April 5th.

The Festival culinaire Bernard Loiseau takes place inside Belle Mare Plage, a 5 star resort on a beach that has few equals with regards to beauty and uniqueness. It is on the north-east coast of the island, 35 km north of the capital, Port Louis, with very fine sand and abundant sun. While we, in the boreal hemisphere, are moving towards the summer, they are getting ready for the winter. Which is not like ours, however. In other words, it is the perfect moment for a festival focused on the pleasure of food.

The promoter of the entire event is chain Constance, Mauritius ownership with hotels and resorts in the Maldives, Seychelles and Madagascar too. The Belle Mare Plage holds 7 restaurants and will be the stage of a long gastronomic competition, the winner of which will be announced next Saturday. Following an established programme, the organisers have invited six European chefs who, in Italy we would define as emerging though already starred, and have selected as many colleagues working inside the various Constance restaurants.

An important detail: everyone was free to participate, among those working in the kitchens, including commis. The six chefs whom we will get to know soon, have passed three levels of exams: first a questionnaire, then the explanation of two traditional recipes and finally the creation of one or more dishes with no limits to the ingredients. During the competition itself, on the contrary, they will need to prepare first a vegetarian starter and then a main dish based on duck breast.

All in couples, a guest chef and an island one. From Europe there will be Tim Allen from London (Launceston Place), Jacob Holmstrom from Stockholm (Gastrologik), Mirto Marchesi from Verbier (Les Chalets d’Adrien), Masachi Ijichi from Valence (La Cachette), Jens Rittmeyer from Hornum (Budersand) and Nicolas Masse from Bordeaux (Les Sources de Caudalie).

The jury is, as usual, presided by Dominique Loiseau and formed by chefs Patrick Bertron, Eyvind Hellstrom, great steersman of Norwegian flavours when guiding Bagatelle in Oslo and Juan Amador Perez (Spanish roots and German glory, with three stars in Mannheim), as well as Bob Miao (Chinese, ex Michelin Guide director in China) and myself – I would love to say that I will be in Mauritius on business but I won’t, respecting those who really sweat over their work.