Both chef and creator, Alain Ducasse is, above all, an esthete, an artisan of living and eating well. In addition to the menu conception for his restaurants, he is also involved in the set design of the culinary arts, all the while giving the chefs the freedom to express their own interpretation of the location and their editorial line.
Each plate has its story and it is the produce, before the chef, who takes center stage. Anchored in the terroir, Alain Ducasse's cuisine vibrates to the rhythm of its time, bringing together tradition and modernity, high expectations and respect for the product.
The chef has always woven strong ties with his suppliers, those women and men who share his values and help him fulfill his mission as a cook: to glorify the authentic tastes of each product.
We don't know where we're going
if we don't know where
we're coming from.
Simultaneously a dish and an object, the cookpot in and of itself brings together the vision of Alain Ducasse. The idea is simple: seven vegetables simmered together in a white porcelain casserole dish specially created for this recipe. This vegetable dish is "glocal" capable of becoming local anywhere in the world.
For Alain Ducasse, nature is an inexhaustible source of inspiration: it is nature that dictates the rhythm of the kitchen, of the farmers, breeders and fishermen. Conscious of his responsibility to the preservation of natural resources, he works only with seasonal produce, produced naturally or fished durably.
Chickpeas from the High Alps, citrus fruit from the eastern Pyrenees, "boeuf fin gras du Mezenc", zucchini flowers from the Queen of Versailles garden, red mullet from the île d'Yeu, saffron from Limousin...
On his restaurants' menus, Alain Ducasse pays tribute to the local origins of produce, a measure of their exceptional quality.
For Alain Ducasse, the chef is the liaison between nature and humanity, the artisan whose role is to make happy those he feeds. At DUCASSE Paris, the cuisine brings together and expresses strong values: generosity, sharing, tolerance, open-mindedness.
This commitment is expressed via numerous social initiatives, as well as in the heart of his schools which transmit his passion for eating well and his humanist vision of cuisine.
The initiator of the "Tous au Restaurant" ("Everyone to the Restaurant") project, Alain Ducasse also supports civic projects like "Femmes en avenir" ("Women for the future"), and "L'Envol" ("Takeoff"), the Banque Postale's integration campus dedicated to young French students from challenged backgrounds.
Lively, multiple, creative and contemporary: At DUCASSE Paris, French cuisine is a model in constant evolution, a true link between the chefs of the world. As co-founder of the French Culinary School, Alain Ducasse stands for the idea that the influence of French cuisine is one of France's greatest assets as a primary, worldwide tourist destination.
A member of the Grandes Tables du Monde and of the Comité Colbert alongside the emblematic French luxury houses, Alain Ducasse has also initiated Good France, an annual event that brings together 2000 chefs, 150 embassies and almost 250,000 people to celebrate the identity, vitality, tradition and diversity of French cuisine and lifestyle.
Born in 1956 on a farm in the Landes region, Alain Ducasse discovered the tastes of produce at an early age.
At 16, the young cook entered a restaurant in France's southwest, then left to train with chefs such as Michel Guérard, Gaston Lenôtre, Alain Chapel and Roger Vergé, with whom he discovered provincial cuisine.
In 2005, Alain Ducasse became the first chef to have 3 restaurants awarded with 3 Michelin stars at the same time.
Taste of the Essence
