OK. It has been a while and I need to think about some things so I thought that I would try them out here first. First of all I have been asked to put together a proposal to consult on what might be the most expensive restaurant in Moscow. It is called "The Most" or in Russian "Moct" which actually means bridge but, of course, as you have figured out already, has other connotations as well. It is a restaurant on Kuznetsky Moct in the center of Moscow. I do have a little photo for you...
Yes, I know, lovely place. Really quite cool with all of that Guilded Age elegance, Gold Leaf and fussy-yet-comfortable chairs. But, they did what restaurant owners in Moscow always do--hired a French Chef. Now I don't want to be taken wrong here but with a few notable exceptions French Chefs are an arrogant disaster. For example if you check out what is considered a good authortiy on the, arguably, 50 Best Restaurants in the world, http://www.theworlds50best.com/2007_list.html, only 2 of the top ten are in France. This is a big change and one that a lot of people really are behind the times on. I think that there was a time in not so distant past when it would not have been surprising to find 5 or even more restaurants in France being considered "the best in the world", !!!!!!!!!!!!, with of course all the attendant fanfare. Not so any more. And the two that make it are Pierre Gagnaire and Michel Bras, no spring chickens in the kitchen and they are two of the only French Chefs to really embrace "newness", sorry it is the best way that I can describe it.
Now, let me say that French Chefs do really well prepared food. But, god, isn't it time that they expanded the repertoire to include a little more than Tournedos of Beef, you know a filet mignon cut in half and pan seared, with Bernaise Sauce? No kidding. That is on the menu and it comes in at a whopping $55. for 170g. Small and boring. And remember the Raspberry Vinaigrette that was so popular in about 1985? That makes an appearance as well. How about this: 5-Spice Duck Breast, now come on, really, they could do better than that but my point is, THEY DON'T! And I will never understand that. In the USA, the UK, Spain especially, a chef needs to say that they were classically trained to be taken seriously at all. Then, to be successful, a chef needs to forget all that and forge a new path to glory. If you can't put a Seaweed Gelee on a Koumomoto Oyster, which by the way is NOT classical french, you really are getting nowhere in this business. See, learn, manipulate and do something new. Which, to my mind, is the job of a great chef. French Chefs tend to think that because they were washing dishes in the hot back of a filthy restaurant when they were 15 years old that by the time they are 35 or 40 the whole world should be saying "magnifique!!!" with every bite. Even when you have just eaten beef with bernaise sauce preceeded by a lovely salad of spinach with a raspberry vinaigrette.
Now, you may be asking yourself what is wrong with this guy? Why does he hate the french so much? I don't. Let me put that to bed right now. It is all about creativity. And the squandering of talent and, most important, what I call "The Great French Con Job". These guys, and I say guys because my experience is that French Women Chefs DO try harder, these guys are conning restaurant owners out of a lot of money and doing dishes that they have been doing for years and could do in their sleep and asking for huge salaries for it. That to me is a con job.
