Alain Passard
The chef lucky enough to live two lives
Exceptional: there’s no other way to define Alain Passard. He has collected 3 Michelin stars since 1996. First in Le 100 Chefs 2017, 31st in the world’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2022, Lifetime Achievement award and Diners Club Award in 2016, the best restaurant in Europe according to Opinionated About Dining 2016, “Toque d’Or” by Gault & Millau, star of a top-rated episode of Chef’s Table on Netflix and a multidisciplinary artist.
Considered the putative father of an entire generation of chefs who sank their hands into the earth to reveal its hidden treasures, Alain Passard is the one who has transformed side products into absolute stars. Making such a provocative and extreme choice for a French chef more than 20 years ago was unheard of! Still, as all geniuses keep on focusing on their goal, he was determined to get out of his comfort zone and be inspired by something different, perfecting his craft every day. There isn’t a gourmet out there that doesn’t love him without qualms, thanks to his charismatic personality and virtuosity with vegetables.
Considered the putative father of an entire generation of chefs who sank their hands into the earth to reveal its hidden treasures, Alain Passard is the one who has transformed side products into absolute stars.
Let’s take a step back to his origins as a “rôtissier” in Brittany, where he spent his early years looking at his grandmother roasting and influenced by the artistic environment given by his family. Passard started to listen to the flames and the pan sounds, to perceive the smells of the kitchen and to appreciate the preparations with all five senses. He took his first steps as a commis at 14 at “Le Lion d’Or”, where he learnt the basics of classical cuisine. After some experiences, from 1977, he worked as 
Head Chef at “L’Archestrate” with his mentor Alain Senderens, one of the founders of Nouvelle Cuisine. He then moved in 1980 to “Le Duc d’Enghien” at the Casino of Enghien-les-Bains: here, he earned his first 2 Michelin stars at only 26. At the Carlton in Brussels, he repeated this in 1984. Finally, in 1986, he bought from his mentor the place where he left his heart, the restaurant in Rue de Varenne in Paris, which he renamed “L’Arpège“. It immediately earned 2 stars, adding a third in 1996, retaining its three-star status ever since, even after changing its identity.
In 2001, at the peak of his career, he realised that cooking meat had become dull, feeling a lack of inspiration in working with animals in the kitchen. Then something changed his path. The world of vegetables seduced him. Largely unknown then, the garden’s magic saved him. Passard regained his creativity thanks to the variety of shapes and colours offered by fruits and vegetables, with their different availabilities according to the cycles of Mother Nature.
He bases his cuisine on three pillars: Dedicating extreme attention and conducting deep research to source the highest quality vegetables, which he elevates to a grand cru – Ensuring the freshness of the products – Honouring their seasonality.
In 2002, his obsession with high-end products, which must be strictly organic, if not biodynamic, pushed him to buy a piece of land at Bois Giroult, where he gets the vegetables he serves at the restaurant. The chef aims to produce vegetables that are 100% home-grown, 100% natural and 100% in season. This requires an enormous amount of work and experimentation as a farmer with his talented team of 10 full-time gardeners, who have equal importance as the staff in his kitchen.
The soil, according to its biodiversity, plays a crucial role in wine production; also, each vegetable can reach its best quality in an optimal growing area determined by planting seeds at the same time in different gardens with clay or sandy soil and executing comparative tasting of the produce by the chef and his gardeners. Passard treats these uncontaminated locations like pampered babies, respecting them to the fullest extent: he refrains from using pesticides and chemical fertilisers, creates watering holes, allows hens to roam free, and creates or protects houses for animal life to predate on pests. With all the care and attention, his vegetables are exceptional and equipped with an identity card showing their provenance.
Passard has mastered all the techniques to transform dishes into works of art. Dishes exude a sense of authenticity, simplicity, and a love for natural, fair, clean food. His cuisine has an identity centred on aromatic and vegetal purity.
The chef was a forerunner in putting the vegetables at the centre of the stage, showing that dishes without meat or fish can be tasty and satiating. It’s an approach that follows deep reflection: it’s not mixing a few raw vegetables quickly for vegetarian or vegan guests. There are rules to follow to master this kind of cuisine. First, he chooses seasonal vegetables at L’Arpège, refusing to serve tomatoes in winter. Passard believes in using vegetables when nature naturally provides them, as that’s when they reach their peak of flavour. Another rule that applies to everything in the kitchen is the freshness and 
excellence of the product, cultivated following state-of-the-art principles. The team of gardeners picks the vegetables at 8 am to be served to guests at 8 pm. The chef firmly believes this practice makes all the difference in taste, colour, and texture.
They never go in the fridge!
Passard has mastered all the techniques to transform dishes into works of art. Dishes exude a sense of authenticity, simplicity, and a love for natural, fair, clean food. His cuisine has an identity centred on aromatic and vegetal purity. He is one of the rare chefs worldwide who can create an emotion with two vegetables, a dressing and two spices. Each dish bears the chef’s signature; he has even patented some! Like a painter’s palette, the vegetables change at each season. They can be mixed and matched, with the chance of adding more elements should his lands welcome produce from other regions.
The chef can smoke, grill, flambé, and even cook vegetables in a salt crust, with examples like Salt Crust Beet, Vegetable Tartare, and Rose Bouquet Pie perfectly demonstrating this. The texture is just incredible and unique. It’s the kind of dish that changes your perception of vegetables. The guests will rediscover forgotten flavours and fall in love with the authentic taste of an exceptional ripe vegetable, sublimated into beautiful creations.
The estate of Bois-Giroult, a private refuge that the chef only opens to a few privileged guests whenever he feels like it, is located in the middle of his vegetable gardens and hosts the fireplace he uses for roasting. Each season, this changing place is magical and very different from the greyness and the limited spaces typical of big cities like Paris. The service is cool, and the dishes are limited to the essentials, but the quality of the products and the chef’s touch are the same as the restaurant.
L’Arpège, on the other hand, has the elegance of a three-star Parisian restaurant. It’s the exquisite setting of one of the most incredible fine-dining restaurants in the world: small and more animated by an impressive brigade. Equal to its three-star status and the type of clientele, the service is impeccable, and the cuisine is refined and meticulous. Eating at l’Arpège immerses guests in a world of plants and lets them discover the purity and pleasure of vegetables. As tasting the best of each season is the only way to get the complete picture, it’s recommended to repeat this experience. The restaurant changes completely by evolving with nature, as renewal is the key to being amazed by memories, freshness and seasonality. It’s why Michelin gave him three stars: there is a concept, an identity, a precise gesture and extensive care of deepening into any detail of the vegetal ingredients.
Photo credit: Alain Passard
Author
Ileana Cari
As a professional English, German and French to Italian translator and interpreter certified by ANITI, DVÜD and SFT and with over 16 years of experience, Ileana Cari helps premium businesses create exclusive experiences for their target clients through a localized, unique, finely-tuned message. Her translations are a bridge between two cultures, aiming to communicate the value of a brand with the right inspiring words and therefore contribute to its success. She is specialized in luxury market segments, like beauty, fashion, hospitality and wellness.
