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Interview Eric Frechon
from the trees to cook oysters.
It was a kind of smoking en
papillote,’ confides M. Frechon
with a conspiratorial air. ‘When
I got back from holiday, I started
experimenting. I paired the
smoked oysters with foie gras
and it really worked.’ He senses
my surprise: ‘The customers
loved it. It was one of our most
popular dishes.’
Changing perceptions and
expectations is something at
which M. Frechon excels, but
that kind of creativity can’t be
learned. ‘It’s something in your
heart, your spirit,’ he explains.
‘You never stop learning —some-
times you can achieve per-
fection, sometimes it will never
come, but you always have to try
and improve.’
When M. Frechon was in his
mid teens, he moved to Rouen to
train at the Hôtelière de Rouen
and, after graduation, got his
first break as a commis chef at
La Grand Cascade under Jean
Sabine. This was followed a few
years later by a stint at Le
Bristol, a year of military serv-
ice and then Taillevent, where
he rose to chef de partie under
Claude Deligne.
He then moved to Spain and
L’Hotel Biblos Andaluz, where
he was second de cuisine under
HubertFanthomme/ParisMatch/GettyImages
Food, glorious food
Eric Frechon is the executive chef at the three-Michelin-starred
Epicure at the Hôtel Le Bristol Paris. Elizabeth Hotson meets
him to find out how he became one of the greatest chefs in France
I
’M nervous. ‘Only a few
people are invited into his
office.’ A few people a day?
A few people a week? ‘A
few every five or six months’
comes the unintentionally intimi-
dating reply. The ‘he’ in question
is Eric Frechon, executive chef at
thethree-Michelin-starredEpicure
at the Hôtel Le Bristol Paris.
I’m led into his office, a cube-
shaped culinary temple in the
middle of Epicure’s kitchen. It
looks directly on to the pass,
a domain of which M. Frechon
is indisputably master. If the
awards on the wall hint at M.
Frechon’s status as one of the
best chefs in France, the trico-
leur on his collar confirms it. It
signifies that he’s been awarded
the prestigious title of Meilleur
Ouvrier de France (MOF). M.
Frechon gained it in 1993. At the
age of 30. Since then, he’s risen to
stratospheric heights; Le Bristol
Paris is the only hotel in Europe
with four Michelin stars, three
at Epicure and one for Le 114
Faubourg.
Although 114 Faubourg serves
beautifully conceived dishes such
as king-crab eggs with ginger
and lemon mayonnaise, Epicure
is the jewel in the crown. Its
seasonally changing menu con-
tains such other-worldly gems as
‘green zebra’ tomato tartar with
lemon thyme, ‘pineapple tomato’
juice and coeur de boeuf tom-
ato sorbet.
However, the beginnings of
M. Frechon’s culinary odyssey
couldn’t have been more prosaic.
Born in Somme, Normandy, he
entered his first professional
kitchen at the age of 13. ‘I wanted
to buy a bike,’ he smiles, ‘and
working in a kitchen was a way
to do it.’ At a restaurant in Le
Tréport, in north-west France,
he was given the job of prepar-
ing the seafood platters: ‘I loved
it and I knew cooking was what
I wanted to do.’
He never looked back. Nowa-
days, M. Frechon’s influences
vary from the traditional—culi-
nary demi-god Auguste Escoffier
—to the decidedly left-field, as
demonstrated by an intriguing
anecdote about a holiday in
Senegal. ‘I saw the local women
use huge, flat leaves straight
Patrick Bausier. The experience
added a valuable new twist to
his repertoire: ‘I began to use
olive oil. It might not sound like
a big deal, but, before cooking
in Spain, I’d worked with a lot of
heavy ingredients: butter, cream,
very typically French. Olive oil
added something else to my food.’
On his return to France two
years later, M. Frechon arrived at
the legendary La Tour d’Argent
under Manuel Martinez and
then moved on to Le Crillon,
a paragon of Parisian good taste
since 1758. It was there that he
attained the MOF. Soon after,
he opened his own restaurant,
La Verrière de Eric Frechon
then, four years later, he moved
back to Le Bristol, where he’s
been ever since.
One, two, then three Michelin
stars followed, topped off in
2009 by the ultimate accolade
when M. Frechon was personally
decorated with the Order of
Chevalier de la Légion d’Honneur
by then President Nicolas Sar-
kozy. Surely this must have
been the proudest moment of
his career? ‘There are lots of
things I’m proud of. The most
important thing is to be able to
see where you are in relation to
your peers. Awards can be
a measure of this, but, really,
68 Country Life Travel, Winter 2014/2015
it’s about being happy with
your cooking and sharing this
with your customers.’
At Epicure, you can experi-
ence M. Frechon’s work first
hand, but the waiting list and
the prices mean this has been
reserved for the lucky few. Now,
however, with the opening of
a new venture, Lazare, in Paris’s
Gare Saint-Lazare, those with
more modest means can eat
three courses of albeit simpler
food for about £45.
Epicure: 00 33 1 53 43 43 40 ;
www.lebristolparis.com/eng/
restaurants-et-bars/epicure
Restaurant Lazare Paris: 00
33 1 44 90 80 80; http://lazare-
paris.fr
Frechon’sfavourites
Dish Hare cooked in its own
juices, with blood to thicken
the sauce
Wine For everyday drinking,
Morgon from Marcel Lapierre’s
vineyard and, for special occa-
sions, Château Pétrus
Best dining experience
Alain Ducasse’s restaurant,
Louis XV, at the Hôtel De Paris
in Monte Carlo
Region Normandy for the
vegetables, livestock and
seafood
One of the secrets of Eric Frechon’s success is his drive to try new things and new techniques