“Paul Bocuse touched several generations”. Pierre Sang, Laetitia Wiese and Christophe Hay pay tribute to the legendary French chef;

Pierre Sang. “Mr. Paul’s wolf in the crust is one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

At the mention of Paul Bocuse, Pierre Sang’s voice trembles with emotion. The chef at the helm of XI’s three restaurants^e Paris region, met him in 2011 Best cook. “It was great spending time with him. I was realizing my childhood dream. Because for the little boy from the provinces that I was, he was the great ambassador of French gastronomy that I would love to work for. Taking advantage of this moment, I asked him many questions. I saw him as a father. And he kind of took me under his wing.” Bocuse has since disappeared, but Pierre Sang has forged strong bonds with his family and the restaurant team. So he never misses an opportunity to stop at Collonges. “The cuisine is exceptional and the sauces are amazing.”

For him, the place and its great classics are foundations to be preserved. “It is important to develop the house. Vincent Le Roux, chefs Olivier Couvin, Gilles Reinhardt and pastry chef Benoît Charvet do the work. But they take into account that Paul Bocuse has touched several generations and that we come here looking for history. There is also this extraordinary service, a perfect and, I think, unique fusion between the kitchen and the dining room.” Therefore, Pierre Sang is anchored in the lineage of Mr. Paul’s fans. He also draws inspiration from his professions. “I wanted to be a fishing guide, so fish are important to me. Mr. Paul’s wolf in the crust is one of the cutest things I’ve ever seen. That’s why I wanted to review it.” Even if he admits that he likes Elysian soup with black truffles.

pierresang.com:

Laëtitia Visse. “He was just great”

Laëtitia Visse, the chef of La Femme du Boucher restaurant in Marseille, published a photo on her Instagram page, where she kisses the statue of Paul Bocuse. This shows the passion this young woman, who attended the Ferrandi School and who learned her skills with Bernard Lozo, Guy Savoie, Alain Dutournier and more, has for this icon of French gastronomy. “He is the symbolic figure of the profession. My kitchen is infused with his legacy, his generosity. Bocuse’s recipes inspire me, the one who makes homemade flour, the one who works with juices, the one who bastes my veal cutlet with brown butter… I like this approach to pleasure. He enjoyed himself the first time he ate at Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or. It was three years ago. He had just met his partner. They were going to spend their first vacation together in a van driving the roads of France.

“Passing by Lyon, I decided to book with Bocuse. I asked if we could sleep in the parking lot of our van. This was not a problem. We got out of our truck and got ready for this dinner that I had dreamed about so much. The couple enjoys the tasting menu. And since Elysian soup is not one of them, he takes it extra. “It was zero foul play. Bokuze was gone, but we felt his spirit. He lives through his team. It’s beautiful!” Therefore, as a connoisseur, he revisited Monsieur Paul’s coq au vin. “There’s no twisting it, otherwise we’re off the subject,” insists he, who sees Cyrano the gunner in Bocuse. “He just It was great.”

La Femme du Boucher, 10, rue de Village, 13006 Marseille.

Christophe Hay. “Bocuse was a vision”

Christoph Hay met Mr. Paul when he was 23 years old. “I went to high school at Hotel Blois and then worked for four years for Eric Reitler, who was a star chef at Blois. One day he told me to go see Paul Bocuse in Collonge, recalls the two-star chef from the Fleur-de-Loire. I was a cat. I am wearing a suit. I had an appointment at 10am. We talked and had lunch in the kitchen. And at the end of the meal he told me: “You can come back in a month.” What I’ve done.” Then, at the age of 25, Christophe Hay took over Bocuse Bistro in Orlando, United States, a gourmet brasserie serving up to two thousand seats a day.

“We came up with the great classics of Paul Bocuse, including the potato scale russet, which I reworked. Madame Figaro from home with a stick. Mr. Paul came to see if everything was going well every three months. When you walk past a home with this level of excellence, you’re like a brand. He was a visionary whose work remains relevant today.” In his restaurant, this child of Mr. Paul, as he describes himself, dedicated to local and seasonality, has managed to assert his individuality while preserving what makes him the richness of French gastronomy, including beautiful sauces. “And at home, as at Collonges, I develop an alchemy between the dining room and the kitchen.” And if Christophe Hay is very connected to his native region, he regularly travels to the Rhone. I am sure they will bring back the third star. It cannot be otherwise.”

Fleur de Loire, 26, quai Villebois-Mareuil, 41000 Blois.