How does dinner at your home as a child influence your cooking today?
My first memories of food are all about my home and my mom. Mom is French, and she loves food. Her cooking is very diverse, so I learned a lot. I would walk into the house and try to guess what she was cooking by smelling the aroma and food.
I guess you could say all of my cooking today comes from my childhood dinner table. It’s all about generous cooking, always good food, local as much as possible. I think the best food comes from village markets, local farms, and farm stands, but mostly, food tastes best when it is shared with special people, and it makes you feel like you are home.
How did you get to the Greenwich Hospitality Group?
It’s been a journey for sure. Greenwich is very far from my home at La Chèvre d’Or, a beautiful place overlooking the Mediterranean Sea in France.
I had such a strong connection to food because of my family upbringing, so I went to school and earned a Bachelor’s in culinary arts and a Master’s in hospitality management, and then I went to work everywhere I could: restaurants, hotels, casinos, etc., all over Europe. When I was only twenty-three years old I was working in Geneva, Switzerland and a friend of mine was going to America to work and he asked me to come with him, and, of course, I said, “sure.” I soon left home and went to work at the Wheatleigh Hotel in Lenox, Massachusetts, near Tanglewood.
I worked there and became a sous chef but the best thing that happened there was I met my wife Valerie, she was the pastry chef. We got married, moved back to France, and had four daughters. All my daughters were born in France.
My wife and I opened a restaurant in our village, Puimichel, in France. It is a very small beautiful village, only 200 people. There are lavender fields everywhere. Nature is so beautiful, and it becomes part of your life. When my wife and I got married, our wedding cake was chocolate and lavender.
We named our restaurant Nouer. It means tied together, connections, or knot because our restaurant was the heart of the village. It was the place in our village where all the people came together. My daughters were always at the restaurant; they would help and cook, and everyone knew them, for my family food ties everything together.
We had the restaurant for seven years, then went to Ireland, where I was the Executive Chef of two restaurants. But part of our plan was to come to the United States to be close to Valerie’s family. I came to the Artisan restaurant from Ireland.
My wife and I wanted to be part of the culinary industry in America, so I put my resume online and started looking for a place to work that could be a good fit with my values and philosophies.
Chef Frederic Kieffer found me. We had a few interviews over the phone and then finally met in person. I did a tasting menu for him and the owners in Greenwich, and the rest is history.
Working with the group has been a pleasure, and I am fortunate to find a place that cares about the food we cook in our kitchens. I am very lucky.
What are some of the guiding values and principles for your kitchen at Artisan in West Hartford?
Values and principles are very important to me. I think the kitchen is not only a place where you cook but a place to teach about food. Sustainability in the kitchen, minimum waste, and utilization of the whole product are all part of my value system. It’s very important to work in accordance with the season and availability. This is really primordial in my kitchen. But team effort, generosity, and sharing knowledge are just as important because when you focus on all of this, you learn to respect people and food together.
“ I think the kitchen is not only a place where you cook but a place to teach about food. ”
What food or ingredients do you love to work with for the winter season in CT?
It is definitely squash because there are so many varieties and endless possibilities when it comes to creating great dishes. There are so many colors and shapes and tastes. Then, I would also say the beef cheeks because the rich, hearty, comforting flavor makes a very nice winter stew.
But my most favorite ingredient that I use year-round is Herbes de Provence. It is a mixture of dried herbs, and it makes every dish special. I usually use thyme, rosemary, and marjoram. My mother still makes it today. She harvests the fresh herbs, dries them, and mixes them together; whenever she comes to visit France, she brings them as a gift for everyone. It is a very special gift. It would be an honor if you received this gift. It reminds me of childhood, which is important because I am far from home.
Hey Chef, tell me what your table looks like.
If you come to my home and sit at my table, you will always see my lovely wife and my adorable four daughters. I do as many family dinners as we can during the week; we cook dinner together whenever I am not at work. I think this is very important for balance in life.
I share all my knowledge with them, teaching them techniques and all about the ingredients. After a while, I don’t have to do anything; they do it all. They love to help, and my daughters like all kinds of food. They love fish and duck, and we make homemade pasta and pizza.
We also like putting together lots of little bites and charcuterie for the table. Simple, fresh and good quality is the theme for our table. We always have fresh sea salt and breads, crudités and dips, and many diverse foods with lots of color. And olives. In France, we had olive trees in our garden, and we harvested the olives and made our own olive oil. I like to use natural and organic foods at my table. In France, organic and natural foods are easy to find. It is very important to know where your food comes from.
