In November 2007 at "Ikarus":
Jean-Marie Gautier
"Villa Eugénie" (Hôtel du Palais)
Biarritz, Frankreich
Biarritz à la Basque
With all the honors and attention that the finest cuisine attracts, it’s often forgotten that a chef is basically a craftsman. Not so in France: there, the profession of cook is one of the trades in which, every three years, the “Meilleur Ouvrier de France”—the “best craftsman in France”—is named, an enormously prestigious honor which, for 1961 honoree Paul Bocuse, was the favorite among countless other awards. In 1991, thirty years after Bocuse, Jean-Marie Gautier was awarded the “Meilleur Ouvrier de France” by President Francois Mitterrand. The competition, explains Gautier, who also bears a Michelin star, is something like the “Bocuse d’Or”—even if the “Meilleur Ouvrier de France,” with practically every culinary talent in France competing for it, is more difficult to capture.
1991 was a pretty decisive year overall for Jean-Marie Gautier. One month before Mitterrand pinned the medal to his chest, Gautier had taken over command of the kitchen at Villa Eugénie, the restaurant at the famous Hôtel du Palais in Biarritz which he still runs today. There, Gautier’s perfect mastery of his craft meets up with the cornucopia of precious ingredients typical of the Aquitaine region—such as fish and seafood (scallops, spiny lobster, lobster), goose and duck-liver creations, game, truffles and porcini, as well as Bordeaux wines. Gautier draws, as it were, on a vast reservoir of epicurean treasures, but he has a knack for uniting them with solidly down-to-earth ingredients in a playful and innovative way. He’ll serve his red mullet filet in squid sauce, for example, or grilled spiny lobsters with fava beans and lettuce hearts, or pig’s knuckles with truffles.
Jean-Marie Gautier knows no specific role models. Even so, there are many cooks who the winner of the 2004 “Worldwide Hospitality Award” for best hotel chef does indeed admire, including naturally Alain Ducasse, as well as foreign cooks such as Eckart Witzigmann and Ferran Adrià. A good cook, says Gautier, has to possess broad creativity and be able to combine different styles well with one another. Alongside the classic French school, Gautier’s passion also embraces the rich culinary tradition of the Basque region. Basque varieties of chili peppers, for example, are liberally employed in his dishes: for his lobster gazpacho it’s the espelette, Gautier’s favorite spice, while the mildly spicy sauce he serves with his filet of cod, on the other hand, gives center stage to the pimento del piquillo.
Jean Marie Gautier
Roland Trettl @ Jean Marie Gautier
Trettl in Biarritz
Heaven on a spoon
Jean-Marie Gautier, chef at the opulent “Hôtel du Palais” in Biarritz, cooks in a very French way and in doing so to an ultimate degree of perfection. He gives us a taste of this at the “Ikarus” in Salzburg during an unforgettable visit.
Recorded by Christoph Schulte / essen & trinken
Photo: Red Bull Photo Files / Kristen Pelou
The “Hôtel du Palais” is amazing, alone the contrast to the young surfers on the beach each waiting for their perfect wave, and only a few meters away this huge hotel in its fading 19th century glory. You expect to see its first landlord Napoleon III with Eugénie in his wake round every corner. I have a certain love-hate relationship to this kind of aging splendour as I do to France itself. There is no way of avoiding the Grande Nation as a serious cook. Leading chefs, are however recognizing ever more that innovative and experimental cookery comes from everywhere else but France.
I should, nevertheless improve my knowledge of French. The way that Jean-Marie Gautier and I communicated was ripe for slapstick comedy. I speak German, Italian, Spanish and English but hardly a word of French, and Gautier who is invited to all the important cooking events worldwide only speaks his mother tongue. Now imagine a huge kitchen with Gautier’s office raised on a platform five steps higher in the middle. How on earth does one go about introducing oneself in a suitable way without being able to speak a mutual language? Gautier asked his 30 cooks if anyone spoke English. Thirty heads ducked. German? Italian? Finally with Spanish, Gautier’s sous chef Frederico responded. Now he was my man.
Gautier is a Frenchman through and through and consequently suffers under not being awarded more than one Michelin star despite his undisputed skills. Gautier would have easily earned two. Michelin’s reserved rating is very much due to the fact that the guests of the “Hôtel du Palais” in Biarritz prefer sitting in the rotunda with its sea view rather than in the restaurant “Villa Eugénie”.
Jean-Marie was incredibly well prepared for my visit. Already by the first day I had tasted everything of any importance in his kitchen. The twelve course introductory menu was magnificent. Scallops with a walnut crust and Périgord truffles, sautéed spiny lobsters on a bed of green vegetables and mango-vinaigrette, red mullet served on a risotto with calamari-sepia-sauce – amazing! As was the Loup de mer with leeks and caviar – a cultivated French caviar by the way, and for me the first that is really on a par with the uncultivated one. This was followed by sweetbread with lemon jus und green asparagus. Well, to be precise, exactly one stalk of green asparagus. That’s Gautier: reducing the choice of products to a minimum, but remaining traditionally conservative in their preparation. It’s a great classic cuisine and one that Jean-Marie masters with perfection. Serving the spiny lobsters with a mango- vinaigrette does have a venturesome touch of avant-garde though.
To round off the mammoth menu there were two desserts. A strawberry-vanilla-mousse and a mille-feuilles with apples and pears. At least, that’s what I thought. I was in the middle of thinking about the return flight too and that I would not just be carrying excess weight in my luggage when I was struck by something totally over the top. It was dessert I remembered from a cooking event in Kitzbühel at which Gautier had taken part, and one which I will never forget, the absolute epitome of Gautier. It looks extremely sweet and really heavy but is a perfect blend of aromatic fruity banana and a mixture of diverse textures and ingredients such as caramelised compote, hazelnut crème chocolate and sponge cake. Everything together on one spoon is heaven. Seeing Gautier running around without an inch of fat to his name leaves hope for me yet.
The way Gautier organised my visit really impressed me. Although there was so little time no questions remained unanswered. Gautier is so logical when he organises and executes everything as well as being as correct and traditionally conservative as his cuisine. I was really moved when I flew back. No one had ever managed to bring France as close to me as this passionately mad-about-cooking Frenchman had done.
Video
Jean Marie Gautier's
Guest chef menu
Jean-Marie Gautier Menu 1
Poached lobster with two types of chicory and vinaigrette of ginger and honey
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Sauteed fillet of red mullet on creamy rice, calamari and sauce of tuna
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Roasted duck crusted in spices, sweet potatoes and figs
(for two people)
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Delice of hazelnut with caramelized bananas
Jean-Marie Gautier Menu 2
Sauteed langostinos with green vegetable and vinaigrette of mango
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Steamed Loup de mer with french caviar and leek
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Roasted duck liver with sauce of carrots and oranges
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Gratinated loin of lamb, crusted in chorizo, with artichokes and bell pepper
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Mille feuille of apple, pear and cranberries
Jean-Marie Gautier Menu 3
Scallops crusted in walnuts and salad of black truffles
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Velouté of shrimps and mushrooms
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John Dory with vegetable of bell pepper and onions with Pata Negra
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Sauteed sweetbread in lemon jus with Topinambur
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Roasted saddle of venison with Izzara liqueur and braised pear
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4 choices of chocolate
Villa Eugénie
Villa Eugénie
1 Avenue de l´impératrice
F-64200 Biarritz, France
Tel.: +33 (0)5 59 41 64 00
Fax.: +33 (0)5 59 41 67 99
www.hotel-du-palais.com
concierge@hotel-du-palais.com
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