Mauro Colagreco is convinced that his customers will be able to taste the difference.
Paris, France:
The best restaurant in the world now serves dishes according to the phases of the moon, said its chef to AFP.
The Argentinian Mauro Colagreco already uses the principles of biodynamics – following natural cycles – in the vegetable garden of his restaurant Mirazur overlooking the Mediterranean on the Côte d’Azur.
From now on, he said, he would also follow the same principles.
Colagreco, the first foreign chef to earn the maximum of three Michelin stars in France, said he decided to jump while locking in on the coronavirus as he sought comfort in his vegetable patch.
“I didn’t see myself reopening in the same way that I had closed three months earlier,” Colagreco told AFP.
The chef was hailed as a magician last year when the Mirazur dominated the ranking of the world‘s 50 best restaurants for its “exquisite seasonal food”, often sourced from its own “cascading vegetable gardens”.
But Colagreco said he wanted to go further, “not by changing the style of my cuisine but in the soul of the restaurant”.
Since its reopening on June 12, the Mirazur de Menton has offered menus based on flowers, fruits, leaves and roots, all closely linked to the lunar cycle.
Leave better with the rising moon
And the chef said some of his classic dishes, like salt-crusted beets with caviar cream, may have to wait their turn.
On “leaf days”, for example, when the moon rises, the leaves that accompany the alpine lamb and the seaweed strudel would be at their best.
“During the lockdown, I worked a lot in the garden. It allowed me to settle all my concerns and be really in touch with the ground,” said the 43-year-old.
“I started to question a lot – the way we work, the way society evolves and the way we produce and consume.
“We wanted to shake up this equation and say that the garden was part of the restaurant and that the restaurant was part of the garden.”
Farmers have traditionally planted and harvested according to the moon, said Colagreco and “the lunar calendar is one of our guides in the garden.
“Much of what we do is biodynamic. For example, when we sow spinach, we do it on a foliar day (when the moon rises) because there will be a greater concentration of energy on that part of the plant. “
Shrimps with rose petals
Colagreco is confident that its customers will be able to taste the difference.
And on a flower day, when the moon is in one of the air signs, prawns with rose petals, rhubarb and almond milk are likely to tickle the taste buds a little more.
“We are trying to get a message out on how to see nature in a different way and to have more direct contact with it,” the chief told AFP.
He said he wasn’t forcing biodynamic ideas into anyone’s throat and didn’t want it to become “dogma” in his cooking.
“We introduce the idea tactfully,” insisted Colagreco.
While the chef said it could take some time for Asian and American foodies to return to Mirazur on the French-Italian border, he saw encouraging signs of a recovery after the foreclosure.
His Parisian restaurant, Grandcoeur, has been doing well since its reopening and “everything indicates a strong revival”, he added.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
