You've had a remarkable journey in the culinary world. What motivates and inspires you to keep going?
It’s the challenges that keep me working and growing. You will face obstacles along the way, but you will overcome them and find your own way. The same goes for the whole team. We are very structured and we thought a lot about the opening in advance but we will keep growing. 

As for inspiration, when you are not in your home [country] and travelling, your senses are heightened and you are more ready to take in new things and experiences. I am thinking about new dishes most of the time, so I like to meet local producers and I’m very passionate about fermentation. I have a person who is dedicated to fermentation but we discuss it together. There’s kombucha, kefir and miso, which are linked to cuisine, drinks and pastry, so we experiment a lot around fermentation and try new things including chestnut miso. 

Fine dining has evolved over the years, what are your feelings about that? 
For me, it’s always about the experience. The markers of the fine dining experience, like bringing out a welcome drink or the standard of service, are still the same, but the way you do it is different. You can bring the kitchen closer to the guests, for example. This is the case for Cristal Room, and there's always something happening wherever you look. There’s a beautiful view but guests can also see the kitchen, bar and pastry corner.

In the past, bistro food and fine dining were two separate worlds. Today, they can work together quite well and they contribute to sharing the culture of the country and complement each other. 

What can diners expect from their first visit to Cristal Room, and what do you hope they take away from the experience?
The restaurant is like a jewel box. It is a dream to work with Baccarat and Gilles & Boissier because we have known each other for a long time and they do beautiful work. We are very happy with the restaurant, it cannot be better.

I hope guests will take away the magic of the flavours. I like to work with bitterness, it’s hard to explain but bitterness enhances flavour. Acidity [as a flavour enhancer] is easier but bitterness is very interesting to shape in a dish. With every spoonful, the flavours are going to be different. This is what I want guests to feel when they eat at the restaurant.

Outside of the kitchen, what hobbies or activities do you enjoy that might surprise those who know you best as a chef?
You know, all my extracurricular activities are linked with cuisine because it's my life. But I do like to work with perfumers. One of my good friends is [renowned French perfumer] Francis Kurkdjian and it's important to me to connect with artists from other fields. It gives me a lot of inspiration. Another friend of mine, Christine Vernay [of Domaine Georges Vernay in Condrieu - Côte-Rôtie, Vallée du Rhône, France], is a wonderful winemaker. She has a similar history as me: she was not supposed to take over the vineyards because she had two older brothers but in the end, she was the one to take over. So we share a lot together and the way she's making the wines is very special.

Female empowerment is more than just breaking glass ceilings; it's about inspiring the next generation. How do you hope your legacy will pave the way for future female chefs?
A big focus for me is to share everything I know and everything I do with the next generation of women. So that then they can do the same later. It’s about opening up opportunities for women to express themselves in this industry. I have many talented women on my team, but they are also of different origins, they come from different countries. It’s not only French [people]. It makes for a more dynamic team with more energy between all of these origins and countries.

What advice or message would you share with young/aspiring chefs as they embark on their own culinary journeys?
Humility; sincerity; self-confidence, which is not in contradiction with humility; and patience.

You have to find the right balance between being humble and confident. You should start as a humble person and then as you build your career and get the recognition, you can build your self-confidence. But humility is where it starts. When I received three Michelin stars, it was not the end—nor was it the ultimate goal—it was the beginning of a new path in my career because I felt confident enough to do it.

In this career, the hardest thing is to last. It's easy to be a shining star, or the chef of the year, or to have all the awards in one year, but after a while, people will forget you. The real difficulty is to last and if you don’t have humility, you’re not going to last.

NOW READ

Chef Nobu Matsuhisa on the art of perseverance

Culinary heritage vs modernity: How five Asian chefs use innovation to keep their traditions alive

Takeshi Fukuyama of Goh and GohGan, in collaboration with Gaggan Anand, on creating a borderless cuisine in Fukuoka