Boasting rich experience in French haute-cuisine, Chef Florent Boivin is a full-time professor at the Institute Paul Bocuse in Lyon, has served as chef in various Michelin star restaurants and was awarded by the French National Government as one of the Best French Craftsmen in Culinary Arts. During his special visit to the Shanghai branch of this Institute, he along with the apprentice chefs will be serving up an exclusive lunch (RMB380/four courses) and dinner menus (RMB580/eight courses) at the Restaurant Ecole Institut Paul Bocuse this weekend (October11-12). Meet the man himself!
How did you start cooking?
The story is quite original. I spent a big part of my childhood holidays with my great grandparents at the collective farm. I didn’t like spending time on the farm looking after cows, so I stayed in the kitchen with my great grandmother. At age 14, I started training as a professional cook, following the different stages of national education in France. At 20, I got my first job as a chef in restaurant of Jacques Decoret [purveyor of the one Michelin star Maison Decoret]. After that, I worked for the Pourcel brothers in France for three years and received three Michelin stars. From that point of my career I started to travel internationally for culinary promotions – I visited Lebanon, Thailand, Japan, China, Singapore, London, and Amsterdam. After that I took a position in Paris at the three Michelin starred Maison Troisgros – a traditional restaurant that has been famous for more than 45 years. I became a head chef and received Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 2011. Afterwards, I returned to Japan, and then New York, Montréal and Madrid. Since 2012, I’ve been a university professor at Institute Paul Bocuse.
You have served in various Michelin star restaurants. Which one was your favorite?
It’s hard to compare those talented chefs, in the same way you can’t compare Picasso with Monet, Van Gogh with Dali. It’s hard to judge.
Do you have a chef you aspire to be?
I respect and admire all the chefs because I understand all their efforts. I look up to those who are generous enough to teach me, masters like Michel Troisgros and Paul Bocuse.
What is your favorite dish?
What I really love is a well-roasted chicken served with creamy mashed potatoes, but I don’t really cook that for restaurants I worked for because the dish for me has a sentimental and emotional value. I’d rather share this kind of dish with people surrounding me; family and friends. It’s quite a simple but tasty dish, but it might not make a lot of sense if we serve it in a fancy dinner like the one we’re holding this week.
Why did you decide to join the teaching staff of the Institut Paul Bocuse?
The reason I started teaching is that I feel like teaching passes on knowledge. I need to and also want to learn more myself before trying to pass it over to other people.
What’s the No.1 rule when creating French cuisine?
Love and passion in what you’re doing. In the very beginning it’s the attitude that counts, but the most important point lies in the moment chef starts to take pleasure in giving to people.
Did you design all the dishes in the menu?
I’m cautious about the word “creation”, especially in the kitchen. A chef doesn’t necessarily create all the dishes. What he does is take inspirations from different experiences, restaurants and chefs he worked with, and interprets them with his own sensibility. So instead of a creation, it’s more like a reinterpretation and inspiration from what he has learned in the past. For me, creation is not just something you put together. Creation stays as time passes by and becomes eternal. Inspiration however, comes from past experiences. The personal style of a chef isn’t something that is created in a second. It progresses with life and becomes better and sharper as you move forward. You need time before you can say you have your own style.
Do you have own style now?
Not yet.
What do you think of the merging of the eastern and western cuisines?
In the past, I’ve worked in both European and Asian dimensions and have learned to appropriate myself to certain products. Some restaurants I worked for are actually very keen on Asian techniques and products and that’s where I have learned to bring those together. The products we find in Asia are very interesting.
What did you do to cater to local customers’ taste?
A lot of elements in the menu are designed to cater for Chinese clients but I wouldn’t call them fusion food. For example one dish is duck that is marinated with ginger, spices and honey, and we have Chinese cabbages and lemons as variations as well.
Can you tell us about your future plan?
I believe I would open my own restaurant in the future, and before I take such a responsibility, I would like to have my kids grow up happily.
If you are to give your students a one-sentence secret in cooking, what would you say?
I have one answer straight off the top of my head; perfection in a dish can only be reached when they’re absolutely unable to withdraw any elements. Simply put, the more natural and more simple, the better.
Catch this talented chef this weekend at Institut Paul Bocuse for their special meal - see listing here - see the delicious sounding menu here!
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