French-born Alain Ducasse is one of the world's most celebrated chefs and a restauranteur who operates over 30 establishments across the world, eight of which receive Michelin stars including Blue by Alain Ducasse at Iconsiam.
During his recent visit to Thailand, the culinary legend had a couple of reasons to celebrate. Ducasse attended Blue by Alain Ducasse's third-anniversary party before it was announced that the restuarant retains one Michelin star in the 2023 Michelin Guide Thailand since receiving it for the first time in 2020. Moreover, the École Ducasse - Nai Lert Bangkok Studio, a partnership between Nai Lert Group and Ducasse's culinary institute École Ducasse, will open on December 14.
Life sits down with the living legend and Blue by Alain Ducasse's Executive Chef Wilfrid Hocquet for an insightful conversation.
The obvious question, to begin with, is what an undoubtedly challenging time the past two years have been for the restaurant industry and its impact on Blue.
Chef Hocquet answered, "We opened three times and closed two times. We opened for the first time and closed three months later because of the first wave of Covid. Six months later we reopened and then we closed and we reopened last November. We had ups and downs during those times and we try to maintain all our staff as much as possible, which is very important to us."
Inspite of unprecedented setbacks, Blue always strive for more. "We didn't stay where we used to be because every time we reopen, we introduce a totally new menu and try to give something different. We created a bond with our staff during the pandemic and we're ready to welcome customers back," he added.
And now that the pandemic under control and tourists return, Hocquet sees the shift in Blue's clientele. "During Covid, I noticed almost 80% of our customers were Thai and now that tourists are coming back we have around 30% Thai customers while the rest is tourists from Singapore and Japan," he noticed.
What else have they noticed as customers are returning to restaurants?
"People are craving to return to restaurants, to go out and to enjoy themselves. A restaurant is a place where you feed and where you share in a beautiful setting with a great design. A pleasure for your eyes," Chef Ducasse opined.
And what a visual feast Blue is. The fine dining restaurant is located in the Iconluxe zone of Iconsiam, offering a sweeping view of the Chao Phraya River. Besides the grand dinig room, there are also private rooms with shelves filled with decorative accessories from Ducasse's private collection.
But what is fine dining? Hocquet offers his thought, "I can see that people want to enjoy life. People love to take their time to enjoy their experience at Blue and we make this experience beautiful for them. Fine dining isn't about the price tag. To me, it's about having an experience with passionate people. People who devote their lives to their crafts be it wine, service or cooking the kitchen. And then you come to a restaurant where they want to make you happy and when you go back home the memory stays with you. We're trying to give patrons a memorable experience."
Plant-based cuisine seems to be a culinary topic of the moment while sustainability and restaurants go hand in hand these days. Chef Ducasse has embraced this trend by introducing vegan burgers and opening Sapid in Paris, which serves 95% plant based menu, but what does he think about sustainability and restaurants?
"Plant-based cuisine isn't the one and only direction that we do. It is very important because it's best for the planet so we do have that in mind but at the same time it's very important to be conscious about the environmental impact of what you eat. Besides plant-based cuisine, we need to be careful to source more and more locally. And that's what Wilfrid does with Blue. It's important to keep in mind that those little things can have an impact on how the planet is going be tomorrow.
"Plant-based is part of what we do to strive for more sustainability. And when we cook with sustainable ingredients, we pay attention not to overly use salt, sugar and fat to keep the original flavours of our ingredients and for better health of our customers. It's true that turning vegetables and cereals into magnificent dishes means much more work," Chef Ducasse added.
Speaking of sourcing ingredients locally, you may wonder what is it like for chef Hocquet trying to find the right ingredients in Thailand?
"The challenge is to find the right people and to make them understand that they can produce less to achieve better quality and take more time but they get rewarded in the end as we're going to buy from them at a higher price. We try to encourage the producers and the farmers to focus more on quality," Chef Hocquet said.
For example, Blue sources free-range chicken from Khlong Pai Farm, which is run by a French man in Khao Yai. "He trains Thai farmers in techniques from France from feeding, killing and transporting the animals. That's why we work with them from day one."
If you've been to Blue, you'll notice how each dish is meticulously presented. While Hocquet insists that he takes minimal, as in "nothing frivolous on the plate", approach with them, you can't deny their distinct design.
"When I try to come up with dishes for Blue, I may start with visual inspiration. For example, the look of 'Octopus, watermelon, avocado' is derived from the Japanese wave pattern (called seigaiha and it's tattooed on his right arm) but of course the flavour is the most important part of each dish," Chef Hocquet explained.
When asked what secret ingredient Blue has to keep customers coming back, Chef Ducasse said, "We work at our full capacity to astonish them and because we continuously evolve. You have your clients but you also have foodies among them. They are knowledgeable and go to many places we need to have the capability to surprise them all the time. We have the capacity to surprise them with our menu, wine pairing and service and we evolve constantly. Each time you return, you have a different experience."
One question that is on everyone's lips when they meet a legend such as chef Ducasse is how he has maintained Michelin stars at multiple restaurants. And his answer may surprise you.
"A Michelin star is not the goal in itself. The secret is to tell your own story. To believe in it and accompany your team. You need to tell your own story and to please your customers. And if Michelin gets to you and you're awarded a star, that's for the better. Really, the goal is to tell your own story, please your customers, understand where you are and let Michelin inspectors do their jobs and the chefs and the staff do theirs," Chef Ducasse said.
For more information on Blue by Alain Ducasse, please visit www.blue-alainducasse.com.
