Why You Should Celebrate Bastille Day in a Restaurant

July 14 is Bastille Day or “La Fête Nationale” as it is known in la belle France. There will be fireworks, street dances and, of course, parades.

But hidden within the history of this great celebration of freedom is the little-known story of how restaurants first came to be.

Before the French Revolution (which started with the storming of the hated royal prison of Bastille in Paris), dining was largely restricted to the grand estates of the French nobles or around the far more humble hearths of France’s working poor.

Indeed, even the right to cater was an exclusive affair, granted solely to the “Traiteur” Guilds by the King. These select chefs prepared only certain dishes by royal license, serving them only within their own kitchens at a fixed time with a preset menu.

So what was the average diner to do when it came to dining when one wanted to, regardless of time or appetit?

Enter Monsieur Boulanger, who in 1765 opened a “restaurer” or soup shop. He offered a choice of restorative soups (hence the name in French), along with bread and wine to the weary wishing to rest and restore their strength no matter the hour.

As one might expect, the effected Traiteur Guild saw his activities as a threat to their exclusive culinary rights within the capital. Soon Monsieur Boulanger found himself called before a royal judge for violating a royal grant of culinary privilege.

But to everyone's surprise, he was acquitted because the judge, who was a lover of fine food, ruled that the Guild was chartered to serve only ragout, and as he pointed out from the bench, anyone who loved fine food should know that a rich thick ragout is NOT ever a thin restorative broth!

Boulanger’s crowd pleasing shop/restaurant was saved! Soon he opened additional restorative soup shops across Paris. There the average man (and woman) could gather, choose what THEY wished to eat AND so empowered, discuss how the royal government seemed to serve only the wealthy and not the needs of the people, who were the true soul of France.

The final result of such conversations was revolution! And the world would never be the same again, thanks in part to soup and the new social institution it helped to create – Restaurants.

Still to this day, people around the world gather in restaurants to freely discuss life, meaning and the whether their governments serve them well. Once again, we should all raise our glasses and toast France for both the courage to claim the right of individual expression and the innovative ability to create something as beneficial to humanity as restaurants!

Post Note, July 13, 2012: If you still have any doubts about celebrating Bastille Day in a restaurant, just consider a much enjoyed tradition within the Culinary Industry, the Waiters' Race, now run in over 53 countries by the very best with a tray! 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2012

How to Make 2012 an Exceptionally Great Year

From Sydney to Paris the new year will soon roll in upon us. And while many of us within the Hospitality Industry are at this point a bit weary (to say the least) of holiday cheer, now is a good time to step back and think of our goals (and dreams) for the coming year, a year we all want to be exceptional.

Perhaps no one captures how to actually achieve that better than the staff at Absolut Vodka in their stunning "Anthem" video which takes items of the everyday and, in the hands of the gifted, turns them into art and meaning.

Likewise the members of our Industry do the same every day with our day-in day-out tasks.  We take items common to us all - food, lodging, rest - and with skill turn them into the art of expression and experience.

And when we choose to add our perceptive insights, our unique take on it all, well, the result is both exceptional and unforgettable - just like a glass of fine wine or a sip of classic vodka, both well worth the effort and the price.

May 2012 Be the Best Year Ever!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Learn Who Is the World's Best Chocolate Chef

There is no place like Paris and nothing sweeter than the taste of chocolate.

Combine these two and you have the legendary World Chocolate Masters, the major confectionary competition studied by all in the industry for trend identification. 

Unlike many other contests that focus on a team effort, this feat of culinary mastery highlights the talents of a single supremely skilled chef, seeeking to be the best among the very best.

Each year the WCM is a breath-taking pageant of skill, artistry, hope and heartbreak as both the basic and the nearly unbelievable, all crafted in chocolate, are present to a panel of the world’s toughest culinary judges.

Congratulations to this year’s winners: Chefs Frank Haasnott, Yoshiaki Uezaki and Palle Sorensen, representing the Netherlands, Japan and Denmark respectively – truly the new masters of chocolate!

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

Lock onto French Wedding Trends Old and New

While weddings used to be a seasonal event, now they are joyfully celebrated year round. Spring bridal traditions often seem out of place at a golden autumn vineyard wedding. But have no fear – there are two elegant French wedding traditions, one classic and one more contemporary, that can easily bridge the gap from June to October.

Nothing but nothing says “wedding” like a towering wedding cake, embossed with frills and flowers all crafted in sweet sugar frosting. When made by professionals, the effect is light and bright – perfect for a spring or summer wedding.

But come a fall or winter wedding, the traditional tiered wedding cake can seem slightly out of place – far too delicate a taste or image to serve when cold winds blow. 

For these seasons of falling leaves or drifting snow, the traditional French wedding cake, the croquembouche, is a rediscovered perfect choice.

French chefs create this stunning cake by stacking caramelized cream puffs into a pyramid that is as visually beautiful as it is tasty. 

Made popular by the famed French Chef Antonin Careme (1783-1833), these towering wedding cakes with their stunning appearance were an inpressive treat for the waiting guests. Then as France’s empire and culinary influence increased, elaborate decorations, such as flowers crafted from royal icing and spun sugar drapes, were added.

Today’s creative French chefs often offer their clients croquembouche crafted from chocolate truffles or macaroons in addition to the classic rounded cream puffs. As a result, croquembouche are also suitable for birthdays, anniversaries and other special celebrations throughout the year.

A newer romantic French tradition centers around "Love Locks." After finding one’s true Love, the fortunate couple writes their names on a lock, attached it firmly to the famed Pont de l’Archeveche bridge and then toss the lock key into the river with the promise to Love each other forever.

Now, though the imagery is touching, you can easily imagine that the administrative staff of Paris is less than charmed at having to remove hundreds and hundreds of love locks from the city’s bridge railings (any more than a hotel would be).

So why not  convert the concept into a champagne cocktail (what could be more French or romantic) called perhaps the “Love Lock” that the wedding couple can share together at their reception, with possibly an actual key given them by the well-wishing hotel staff to toss or treasure after their wedding dinner reception?  

In either case, as Humphrey Bogart said to Ingrid Bergman in the movie Casa Blanca, “we’ll always have Paris.”

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011

After 136 Years L’Opera Restaurant Finally Opens in Paris

They say that all good things are worth waiting for.  And nothing makes that statement truer then the long awaited opening of L’Opera Restaurant at the Palais Garnier, home of the famed Paris National Opera Company.

Charles Garnier, architect of Napoleon III’s stunning new opera house, always intended that a restaurant be included in the completed cultural center, but construction difficulties, a series of unsuccessful and expensive foreign wars and finally the resulting collapse of the government precluded the restaurant ever being established.

Even more recent attempts in 1973 by Rolf Liebermann and in 1992 by Pierre Bergé failed to complete Garnier’s final dream – all due again to the huge costs involved.

Yet as all true opera lovers know, a great aria and fine food belong together as truly as, well, any romantic tenor and dreamy-eyed soprano do, at least according to Rossini and Donizetti.

Now, thanks to Jean-Phillipe and Pierre-Francois Blanc, the injustice of legendary music without memorable cuisine has been corrected.

Key to their success as the restaurant’s new owners, is their ability to bring together a team whose talents equal the legacy of Garnier’s grand house.

First among their choices was the very modern architect Odile Decq, who seemed at first an unusual designer for a restaurant set in a venerated historical building. To make matters worse, the Garnier Opera House is listed as an architectural treasure by France’s National Commission of Historical Monuments, which means absolutely no structural changes are allowed.

But have no fear. Odile Decq’s fame is not undeserved for she understands that the essence of design is an insightful understanding, not mere copycat dupliction.

Drawing on the elegant red crescent of the Opera House interior, she created a contemporary free-standing two level installation that honors both tradition and modernity. Yet art, either on the stage or in architecture, is not inexpensive. All in all, Jean-Phillipe and Pierre-Francois have invested over six million euros to get it right.

Second, but of equal importance, is the elite culinary team they have gathered together. Chef Christophe Aribert, formerly of Les Terrasses, Grenoble’s lovely 2 star Michelin restaurant, has taken charge of the menu.  

Working with Chef Aribert is the Executive Chef Yann Tanneau, previously of Mama Shelter, Sous-Chef Didier Quennouelle of Le Fouquet’s and finally the Pastry Chef Hervé Moreau, formerly of Pierre Gagnaire and Michel Rostang. 

What a team! What a setting! As the word “Opera” means “The Great Work”, truly no better name could be found for this new restaurant, a culinary jewel sure to soon set its lucky diners shouting “Bravo, Bravo, Bravo” throughout the streets of Paris and beyond! 

Your Culinary World copyright Ana Kinkaid/Peter Schlagel 2011