Pierre Gagnaire: Musings

Pierre Gagnaire

Pierre Gagnaire

How do you keep your creative juices flowing?
I remain completely focused on the heart of my work; eat, breathe, think, and live the cuisine.

Tell us about your latest creation.
It’s a grilled seabass steak, on a black garlic purée served with two pigs’ ears (the first is a kind of seaweed and the other is the part of pig’s ear cartilage), accompanied by semi-salted anchovy fillets and a fresh cherry cut in small pieces.

A Pierre Gagnaire menu for entertaining at home?
There are no rules when it comes to entertaining at home. It all depends on the season: a unique dish of roasted meat, fish or shellfish along with different seasonal entrées set on the table. I pay close attention to the choice of wine I’m serving.

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What do you think of the latest raw food craze?
It is good, interesting but dangerous.

Chefs you admire?
There are only two chefs who really left a deep impression in my memory: Frédy Girardet in Lausanne and Alain Chapel in Mionnay.

What inspires you to create amazing dishes?
Products, encounters, or a sensation linked to the environment.

With new restaurants all over the world, how do you make sure the Pierre Gagnaire touch is felt all around?
I am extremely close to my teams and I’ve been very lucky to have built a really spirited community that enables me to maintain and develop my own savoir faire.

Strangest ingredient you’ve cooked with?
A Saint-Yrieix pig, which has an almost 20cm layer of fat. This piece of meat is really incredible but also very complicated to cook.

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Who would you collaborate with?
François-Joseph Graf. He designed the most beautiful restaurant, L’Ambroisie at Place des Vosges, Paris.

Artist you most identify with?
I would say Cy Twombly.