🇫🇷 Reporting from l’Arpège two weeks after the full vegan reset (except for honey 🍯) - Very bold move from Alain Passard (who turned 69 last Monday) : « I’m so excited for this new chapter, I have 20 more years of cuisine ahead of me! » (stark contrast with Bernard Pacaud, 77, who retired last Saturday).

He got rid of his iconic dishes (maple egg, bouquet de roses’ apple tart etc) and most plastic in his kitchen including his iconic white gloves he’s been using to cook. I asked him why he did it: « I got bored and tired. Now I’m full of joy and energy. Dead animal flesh and butter were becoming a turn-off to me. The idea is straight vegetables. No emulsifiers, no magic powders (« pas de poudre de perlimpinpin »), no gimmicks. I want a cooking where your tummy (« bidou ») feels good. You feel great and light after. But give me two years. Two winters and two springs. And in two years I’ll be fully there. Right now we are experimenting and it’s so exciting. ».

And it was already very delicious in the peak of August tomatoes. He made my heart sing with this new dish : a white ratatouille (white zucchini, tomato and eggplant with garlic and onion slowly confit for 2.5 hours on a bed of confit apple). Lovely hummus with a heart of peach. That consommé warmed my soul. And for mignardises, a sweet tomato juice and a dehydrated Verveine leaf with cacao on top. Alain is back in the kitchen working hard. And when he’s at that level, hardly anyone can beat him.

The lunch menu:
Gaspacho du frérot à l’harissa
Houmous amour
Courgette coquette
Sushi fantaisie au vinaigre de riz
Consommé du soleil
P’tit farci du potager
Salade céladon
La pomme d’amour
Nage de verveine aux fruits du verger
Tarte émeraude, reine-claude & basilic

Bravo Alain, the next two years will be incredible. And I can’t wait for the next 20! 🍏🍓🫛🌶️🍅🫐🍆🍉🥬🥕🧅 Less