We caught up with our new Chef Nicolas Thibaut at the end of his shift. It's in the intimate setting of Les Belles Lettres that he lends himself to the question-and-answer session.
We caught up with our new Chef Nicolas Thibaut at the end of his shift. It's in the intimate setting of Les Belles Lettres that he lends himself to the question-and-answer session.
1. How did you get the idea of becoming a chef? What is your background?
I'm originally from Dijon in Burgundy, a region renowned for its gastronomy rich in the diversity of its local produce. At home, we used to cook seasonal produce, whether it was fruit, mushrooms, meat or vegetables.
When I was younger, I always wanted to travel... So I thought of the hotel business as the perfect sector to go abroad and learn foreign languages and discover new cultures.
So I did a one-year apprenticeship in the kitchen. After my training, I left mainland France to travel! I spent a few years working in Guadeloupe and abroad in places like Switzerland and England.
Along the way, I met some talented people who taught me this profession and made me love it. On my return to France, I also travelled to a number of French cities, including Le Touquet, Lyon, Dijon and Paris.
2. How would you define your cuisine?
The essence of my cooking is rooted in my background: the diversity of the products I work with, and the demanding choice of fresh seasonal produce.
I like to work with seasonal produce so that I can reinvent myself all the time. Every month there's an interesting product to work with. I don't focus on any particular style of cooking. It's all about spontaneity!
5. What products do you like to work with?
To be honest, I like all the products! However, I do have a slight preference for vegetables, due to the wide variety available.
6. What qualities do you need to develop to become a good cook?
To become a good chef, I think that listening skills are essential, because it's important to learn to listen to your Chef.
Rigour is also very important, because a brigade has well-defined timetables to keep to.
To be a good Chef, you need to have both this rigour and a sense of pedagogy, so that you can help, support and pass on to the people we work with.
7. The hotel's clientele is very business-oriented... Were you used to working for this type of clientele?
Yes, of course I know this type of clientele very well as I used to work in a 5* hotel, mainly Business, in the heart of the capital.
My team and I were used to preparing large events for very demanding clients, and I find the same thing at the Best Western Plus Paris Val de Bièvre with the executive clientele we welcome.
8. Business and leisure customers have different expectations. Do you adapt your cooking to this clientele?
If so, how?
Yes and no, because the result has to be the same: to satisfy the taste buds! I always concentrate on taste and visual appeal, and then adapt my cooking to the customer's requirements.
I treat banquets and seminars as individuals, catering to their needs.
9. Can you describe your typical day in the kitchen?
I start at the Best Western Plus Paris Saclay in the morning between 7:30 and 8:00. The first thing I do when I arrive is to make sure that the kitchen is up and running. In other words, I check all the important hygiene and safety points.
We then look at the day's activity chart with the team and, based on it, we divide up the tasks, with everything fitting together like a game of Tetris...
Of course, every day has its surprises!
10. Is there anything you're particularly proud of about French cuisine?
French cuisine is renowned for its rich variety of regional dishes, whether in mainland France or in the French overseas departments and territories. Thanks to my experience in different regions of France, I've been able to learn about this diversity and enrich my cooking.
11. What should you have tasted at least once in your life? What is your favourite dish?
You've got to try the coconut sorbet from Guadeloupe!
Otherwise I have not one but two favourite dishes. I love the fricassé de Lambi on the Creole side and because of my Burgundian origins, I would say the bœuf confi au vin rouge...
13. Do you have a favourite dish?
It's difficult because I like to cook so many dishes that I don't really have a favourite!
