Excuse the pun, but Helene Darroze really is at the top of her game, and not just because she’s cooking in Burj Khalifa’s 124th-floor restaurant next week. The chef runs Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, London (at the Connaught hotel, where she took over from Angela Hartnett) and Moscow, is a mum-of-two and is evangelical about the local cuisine of her home region, France’s bountiful south-west.
“I use my memories to cook,” she says; those memories might range from growing up in a cooking family (at her family’s Relais & Châteaux hotel in Villeneuve-de-Marsan) or taking the plunge into cooking at Alain Ducasse’s Louis XV in Monaco. At that time, she wasn’t a chef — she was in an admin role, and in one of those and-the-rest-is-history moments, was convinced by the chef to enter the kitchen.
Ahead of her three-day residence at At.Mosphere from April 28-30, where she’ll be joining executive chef Jitin Joshi for lunch and dinner service, we quizzed Darroze about what she’s serving up, way up there.
Q. What you will be cooking during your time in Dubai, and why?
A. I will cook some of my signature dishes to show the most representative of my cuisine, such as the black balls of foie gras [duck or goose liver] and black truffle, or the black rice with calamari. And I will of course cook some dishes with seasonal products like the chicken with morels and asparagus.
Q. How would you describe your cooking?
A. The basis of my cooking is based on the choice of the products. I always choose the best of the market following the seasons. There is no compromise with the choice of the products and I have built a very strong relationship with my producers. Then on the products I put my emotions my sensibility. I use my memories to cook. That could be memory from my country from my family or from my travels.
Q. What you would like to be doing in five years?
A. I hope that I will still cooking. In Paris and London, where I have my two main restaurants. But I also have the hope to extend my cooking to other international places. Why not in Dubai...
Q. What do you cook for yourself at home?
A. I cook simple dishes with good products that can be put on the table and shared with the guests. I spent a lot of time with an Italian mama and I love cooking pasta. There is nothing better as a dish to be shared. My favourite dish for a Sunday lunch is a roasted chicken with French fries. But the chicken has to come from my country — Les Landes in the south west of France. Now I am also starting to cook with my daughters, especially pastries.
Q. Where do you eat out in London?
A. London is such an interesting place for food. You can find so many style of cooking from all over the world. You have all the nationalities and all their cuisines in London. I prefer restaurants who deliver a real food more than concept restaurant. But I am interested by everything. My favorite are Umu and Zuma for Japanese food, Locanda Di Locatelli for Italian food and Amaya for Indian food. I have just discovered the Clove Club with a very talented UK chef [Isaac McHale].
Q. What food trends are you interested in?
A. I am interested in all ways of cooking. I am more interested in philosophy and culture than in trends. Japanese food is definitely a culture and a technique that I would love to know better.
