A Moveable Feast

Millefeuille de pommes roties et creme de calvados

The bestseller among my spring 2010 desserts : caramelized cinnamon flavored apples and calvados-mascarpone cream, layered between crispy sheets of puff pastry. Photo by Stephane Laniray.

 

The big decision

I have taken one of the bigger decisions of my life : It is time to stop giving my time and talent to others and in 2011 I will open my own restaurant. Most likely in Paris. Voila. Big big decision. I am excited and scared at the same time.

I handed in a resignation letter 2 weeks ago, after my weekend with my friend Nina in Lucca, which reopenend my eyes towards my initial goal and dreams, that led to abandoning life #1. While the restaurant that employed me for more than a year has been a fantastic professional and human experience, lately a couple of changes happened, that I don't want to describe in detail here. But let's say I have certain values and principles that I don't compromise on, and so I draw the consequences. The owner couldn't have reacted better, in fact my resignation in his office started with me crying, because it hurts a lot to end a good experience for bad reasons, but it ended in a 2 hour consultation about restaurant creation, and each day he keeps giving me new advice, yesterday he even came up with a suggestion for a currently to-let restaurant in Paris. So I am happy to leave in very good terms, and will be able to quickly erase the last four negative weeks from my memory.

With two weeks distance I now realize that something had to happen to wake me up and to get me out of my comfortable easy life at the restaurant, otherwise I would probably still work there a couple of more years, avoiding to make the big jump.

Everybody I told was at first shocked to hear that I quit, especially after the press brochure and the good articles, but when I then described the recent situation, everybody agreed, that I had to go. The first "blessing" I needed to feel better was the one from Chef Sebastien, and I went to Ferrandi to explain him everything, one day after my resignation, and he also agreed on my decision. He has always been a key "element" in my life #2 and he will continue to be, as I move on now seriously to become an entrepreneur.

The rest of 2010 will now be spent with travelling, seeing friends that I miss, spending time with my family, my godchild, my grandmother who will turn 90 this year, and making more big decisions as part of my restaurant business plan.

As I say every night to my team, when the first order comes in : Allez, on attaque...

reviews

As result of the 300 brochures sent out to journalists we are getting now weekly 2-3 reviews on blogs and on paper. In some of them my name appears, which makes me very proud, so far the critics about the starters and desserts have always been good, sometimes enthusiastic.

Here is one, where the author (John Talbott, THE reference of anglo phone critics in Paris) confuses however my name with the one of the chef and makes me thereby the chef of the restaurant ;) Which normally I wouldn't mind but it seems he liked my amuse bouche and the starter, but less the main course... He took his photos only after eating half of the starter, so it looks no longer as nice as when it left the kitchen. You can see my name appear on the chalkboard on the first photo. John Talbott's review

I like this one too from Do it in Paris. It is nicely written.

Good pictures and very positive notes on my starters and desserts on the Coup de Fourchette blog.

Here is the whole press brochure to download with lots of pictures of the restaurant, my creations, and even a photo and bio of myself on page 6, in the style "aleady as a child on her first vacation in France she loved creme caramel more than the Eiffeltower". Download DOSSIER_DE_PRESSE_AROMATIK_2010