Hélène Darroze: "I am a cook, not a“ head ”!»Subscribers

La Croix l'Hebdo: we finally find the path of restaurants.What is your dish of deconfination?

Hélène Darroze: at the Connaught, my restaurant in London, we will serve the lobster poached with tandoori butter with a chiffon of citrus carrots and a reduction of pepper.In Paris, this is not the best time to reopen a gourmet restaurant: early July, the city empties and tourists will not be many.

Is it complicated to reopen a starred establishment after months of break?

H. D .: This is anticipated weeks in advance.With the granting of the third star in the Michelin guide in London and a second in Paris, we cannot miss.During this period, we never ceased to question, to develop the offers.See around you: we work on dishes, service sets, new dishes.

In what financial state do you get out of confinement?

H. D .: Between the offer of take -out dishes and homemade burgers, which have worked well, and the aid of the state, we highly limit the damage.But I lost money and I had to go into debt with the loans guaranteed by the State (PGE).Restaurateurs have a lot of question points regarding leases.One of my donors is ready to abandon the rents not paid during the closure, but the other does not want to hear anything.

Some of your colleagues have denounced government policy and closure measures ...

H. D .: The pandemic is such a complex crisis that I would not allow myself to criticize the authorities.Partial unemployment has saved employment, otherwise I could not have kept my teams.However, I am in a more comfortable position than other restaurateurs.The shooting of "Top Chef" helped me financially and psychologically and no doubt gave a boost to our take -out sales.I am optimistic in nature: in difficult times, I take things day by day, and come what can.And then when you have 150 employees, you can't collapse.Touched by the COVID-19 in the first confinement, I had to stop working and I was tired for a long time.

→ Analysis.Coronavirus crisis: why is there no more bankruptcy?

You wear a cross around your neck.Is it by coquetry or by conviction?

H. D .: (Laughter.) This cross was offered to me by my grandmother to my solemn communion.She hasn't left me since the age of 18.By wearing it, I have the impression that my grandmother protects me.It’s also a way to display my convictions.I believe in God, in a god who forgives, guides and helps me to repair my mistakes.I feel very close to the Catholic religion.I often go to church and my two daughters are in chaplaincy every week.

How did you experience confinement?

H. D .: This was an appreciated parenthesis, despite the concern for the future of my restaurants and the fatigue caused by the disease.With my two daughters, we experienced fairly unique moments at home.I was also able to get closer to my family.This time to think helped me sort through my relationships and think about what makes me happy.I want to engage in things that are close to my heart: transmit, reach out to others ...

→ Investigation.COVID-19: Eating, lost pleasure?

You also took advantage of the closure of restaurants to write two recipe books.

H. D .: I cooked a lot at home, noon and evening, during the past year, taking the time to simmer good little dishes.I made photos that I then published on social networks, accompanied by recipes.This was a great success.On the advice of my publisher, I ended up writing a book at home.Fall-winter, then a second which appeared on May 27, spring-summer, before a third which will be devoted to desserts.

You are a star of social networks with more than 600,000 subscribers.Are these new tools essential?

H. D .: The success of the Joia (its Parisian bistro, rue des Jeuners, editor's note) started thanks to my publications on social networks, which were taken up by influencers thanks to which the information has gone around the world.Instagram is not essential to fill a star restaurant, but a chef must also know how to communicate in order to stand out on the Parisian square of gastronomy, which is very competitive.When I present a business plan, it is accompanied by a communication strategy organized via a website, classic media, social networks and of course "top chef".

What does this flagship kitchen program bring you?

H. D .: It's two months of shooting, work and fun.And it feels good ... (long sigh.) With my three acolytes, we get along perfectly and we share our concerns and our reflections, especially during the moments when we find ourselves in the lodges.I learn from them and even sometimes candidates.And then "Top Chef" also brings me visibility.

In your job, we talk about chef and brigade.How do you head your teams?

H. D .: In the kitchen, I banish the words chef (FE) and brigade, which have a military and very masculine side.I prefer the term cook, which first directs by example.Then, in terms of management, there are two essential words: respect and transparency.We must respect its employees as well as its customers and suppliers.And when there is a problem, let's talk about it, find solutions.Service is a period of stress par excellence.However, I don't believe in rants.Better to exchange calmly once the fire has fallen.

Testimonies have raised verbal, even physical violence in gastronomic kitchens.Under pressure, have you ever treated an employee with bird names?

H. D .: Ask them.Those who have been insulted in twenty years of work by my side, they are those who are precisely going to insult their subordinates.(Smile.) If my leaders, who, moreover, find it that they do not call themselves chief, do not have this spirit of respect and sharing, they do not stay long by my side.

→ Reread.How restaurants are preparing to reopen

Gastronomy is a harassing work in the stove as well as hours at the table, rare dishes and savory notes for customers.At a time when we defend the return to simplicity, is there not an anachronistic side?

H. D .: Gastronomy can also be very simple, going back to things like seasons, short circuit supply.If you don't use strawberries in winter or truffles in summer, everything becomes more affordable.I do not believe in the end of gastronomy, this section of our culture.There will always be room for exceptional experiences.Do not think that our customers are all wealthy businessmen.Many come to my house as a party that they have dreamed for a long time, a rare moment in a life.Give them happiness fills me.

Gastronomy has a very hard side: one day we are praised by criticism and the next day we have skyrocketed.How do you live it?

H. D .: At a time in my professional life, it was painful.Today, I live it with a lot of hindsight ... I put into practice the advice of a friend, actress Isabelle Carré, after having received a very poor criticism in a national daily.I was young.The article had changed my team and it hurt.That evening, Isabelle Carré came to greet me at the restaurant.She told me that she had stopped reading all the criticisms because it made her sick.Since then, I no longer look at the opinions on my kitchen, positive or not, nor the articles or interviews that I give to the media.

One more star or less at a restaurant, how does this play on attendance?

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H. D .: When I was removed one, I had trouble, while accepting the decision of the inspectors.We had to question yourself and work hard to return to it.I happily welcomed those who arrived today.A third star, even a second, has a very important impact in the months following the announcement.Rewarded with a third star in the Michelin guide, the Connaught in London is full for the next three months.Conversely, when I had lost the second star of my Parisian establishment in 2010, attendance had not dropped.

Many great masters of gastronomy hold several restaurants.Why do you multiply?To increase your income?

H. D .: In my case, it is not a matter of gains, but favorites and opportunities.For example, I dreamed of opening an establishment with a different kitchen, type bistronomy, and the joi was born.A fourth restaurant will soon open its doors in Provence with particular attention to the work of the vegetable.Getting started in new projects is also a way to retain my fairly young team, between 30 and 35, which is looking for challenges.If I do not offer them opportunities to develop, they will leave elsewhere.These people, I love them.Without them, I would not have become what I am today.

What fundamentally differentiates a three-star from a good bistro?The Marsan du JOIA?

H. D .: (hesitation.) With me, suppliers and products have the same origin.But in one case five people participate in the development of your plate, and in another less than two cooks are enough.The whole gives a very different sense of detail.So you don't live the same culinary experience.

→ To read.Death of Pierre Troisgros, legendary three -star chef

We can also say that it is almost impossible for the amateur cook to reproduce a specialty made in a star restaurant, while the recipes of the bistronomy are more affordable ...

H. D .: This is a good definition.I will reuse it.

How do you create new dishes, new tastes?

H. D .: Creation, art is always a big word when we talk about cooking.We are rather craftsmen.Ideas always come from the product.What do we want to work?Is it available in this season?Then I sit in front of a blank page.Memories emerge, an evocation arises.Sometimes a flash goes through my head.I scribble, I make drawings, associations.From that, I talk to my employees about it and we start working together.We try until we get to something balanced.We rarely abandon.It can also happen that the initial idea comes from one of my main employees.

What are the masters who inspired you?

H. D .: Not going through a cooking school, I first learned at the house and in the family restaurant in Villeneuve-de-Marsan (Landes, editor's note), opened by my ancestors in 1895 ... more thanTechniques, my father and my grandfather have transmitted their values to me, this art of living and receiving from the Southwest.Mr. Alain Ducasse, with whom I stayed for a long time, had an influence on my practice.Without being mentors, people like Pierre Gagnaire and Michel Guérard are examples by their approach to our profession.

You often say to "top chef" that there is female cuisine, a sentence that may seem sexist ...

H. D .: Men and women, we have different emotions and sensitivity.This is felt in gastronomy, even if you can find very masculine kitchens made by women and vice versa.But, generally, a chief is more in the approach to share something and give pleasure, while his male counterpart is more in the desire to demonstrate what he can do.This translates into the plate in generosity on taste and perhaps less technique.

What advice would you give to parents who would be eager to transmit the kitchen to their children?

H. D .: Go to the market, buy what you find there following the seasons, preferably from small producers, and cook as simply as possible without distorting the product.If we can invite them to get their hands dirty, it's even better.But, already, let us incite them to the well-eat, let's make them taste a tomato in July and another in January.

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His dates

1967. Birth in Mont-de-Marsan.

1995. Resumes the family inn.

2001. Obtient sa première étoile au guide Michelin un an après l’ouverture de son propre restaurant, Hélène Darroze, dans le 6^e arrondissement de Paris, puis une seconde en 2003.

2007. Adopt Charlotte, a Vietnamese baby, then quittery in 2009.

2008. is given orders from the restaurant at The Connaught Hotel, London.

2015. Integrates the "Top Chef" culinary program, as a member of the jury.

2021. Take three stars in the Michelin guide for The Connaught and two stars for Marsan (ex-Hélène Darroze).

A quote

"No one will steal what I danced"

"I like this Spanish verse from a poem that served as a title for my first book.It means that you shouldn't be afraid of doing things you want, or blush or regret after the fact.I add advice that I give to young people: when you have a passion, you have to live it without watching it pass.»»

A book

Children are kings, from Delphine de Vigan

"He talks about the influence of social networks and reality TV on people's lives today.I love reading and I was able to find time to do it during confinement.»»

His recipe of the moment

The Kuku

"This is a kind of omelet with very few eggs and a lot of green vegetables, including spinach, arugula.It’s very dietetic and diuretic.As I watch my line right now, I'm preparing myself once or twice a week with sheep's Breuil, a very light Basque cheese.»»