Monday, January 26 / Turning the Tables

GASTRONOMY / The Atelier at The Bocuse d’Or / Ultimate Moments / Monday, January 26 / Turning the Tables

First to arrive at Nespresso’s Atelier de Création was Thomas Keller — a full 10 minutes before the opening of today's chef workshop. No problem. Keller started helping Chef Sang Hoon Degeimbre lay out the ingredients for today's food-pairing demonstration. Keller is a superstar, perhaps the greatest American chef of all time. He's the man behind The French Laundry in California and Per Se in New York, each of which has earned three Michelin stars, making Keller only one of two chefs in history to have accomplished such a feat. A real-time video hookup in both restaurants allows Keller to play an active role no matter which side of the U.S. he happens to be on. So what was he dong here in Lyon performing routine kitchen duties, attracting more than a few stares (imagine Pablo Picasso cleaning another painter's brushes)? It's not like Keller doesn't have anything better to do. He is president of the jury for the 2009 Bocuse d'Or competition. And he and his partner Laura Cunningham are here to support one of The French Laundry's young sous-chefs, Timothy Hollingsworth, who is competing in the Bocuse d'Or finals. "Timmy has a good team," Keller confided to us, "I think he'll do alright." The next big name to arrive was Sébastien Bauer, chef-pâtissier at Angelina, the legendary tea salon in Paris, and former colleague of French pastry impresario Pierre Hermé. (Hermé stopped by the Nespresso workshop for coffee this morning, as did Eric Briffard, the two-star chef from the George V in Paris). This has been a good year for French pastry – the French team won today's final round of the World Pastry Cup contest for the fifth consecutive year — and Gabriel Paillaisson was looking pleased. He's the much-decorated patissier who started the World Pastry Cup back in 1989. François Cartron is another powerful figure from the French pastry world, presiding over a trade union that should win a prize for its absurdly long name ("Confédération nationale des artisans pâtissiers chocolatiers confiseurs glaciers traiteurs de France"). Messieurs Paillaisson and Cartron seemed particularly surprised by Chef Degeimbre's savoury dishes masquerading as desserts. That is, the three dishes being demonstrated today – Sea and Coffee, Cheese and Coffee, and Cheeky Chicory – all look like they're going to be sweet, but they're not. They are to cuisine what trompe l'oeil is to art. They knock you off balance in the best possible way. "Audacious" is a word that came up again and again. Cartron said he found the dishes "more than interesting" and plans to talk about them in the French trade paper Le Journal du Patissier "so that pastry chefs will take an interest" in food-pairing. Frédéric Anton (Pré Catelan, Paris, three Michelin stars) expressed "astonishment," a feeling shared by Emile Jung (Le Crocodile, Strasbourg, two Michelin stars) and Stéphane Décotterd from the Pont de Brent restaurant who's representing Switzerland in the Bocuse d'Or finals. Keller's favourite dish was Coffee and Cheese, followed by Cheeky Chicory and then Sea and Coffee. Anton concurred. This ranking turned out to be the general consensus for the day. Others who favoured Coffee and Cheese were two young chefs who represent France's up-and-coming generation: Christophe Pelé from La Bigarade in Paris, and Arnaud Bignon from Spondi in Athens (he's the first and only two-star chef in Greece).