I entered Enderun thinking only one thing: holy crap, this place is awesome! No wonder tuition here is steep–it really is quite impressive, and only a place as stunning as this would be a setting proper enough to present a man like Alain Ducasse to Manila.
I got a pretty interesting gig–the opportunity to see him up close and personal during his press conference for his lecture at Enderun. I have to say that as a food fanboy, it was akin to a basketball fan being face to face with Jawo. Anyone even vaguely interested in the culinary world has got to give props to him–he has certainly blazed a million trails for the propagation of excellent food.
Like seemingly everyone else in that room, I gazed upon his face in utmost admiration (in as much of a non-threatening and non-stalker way as I could muster, of course) like I probably would have on someone like, oh, Eddie Garcia. Truth be told, he reminded me more of a wizened professor than a chef. A staunch Frenchman, he grew up on a farm in the south of France surrounded by ducks and geese, so I can only surmise that he was practically raised on foie gras. Talk about kick starting your palate young, feasting on foie at the age when we were probably eating Gerber. Good food was always nearby, and that, plus his surroundings surely gave him the upper hand and shaped him into a chef that would win his first 3 Michelin stars by the age of 33. ("3 stars" is a rating from the much vaunted Michelin guide, a rating so powerful and that creates so much pressure to keep up your success that some chefs have been known to have meltdowns when stripped of it.) To date, he has 25 restaurants in 10 countries, and several Michelin stars under his belt.
No longer cooking in the kitchen, he now conceptualizes recipes, and more importantly, sniffs out talent and takes them under his wing, like the Jerry McGuire of the cooking world. After being trained and nurtured, they are set free to run restaurants (preferably his!).
Which may explain why he is here: his Alain Ducasse Foundation sends teams of chefs that have trained under him to schools like Enderun to elevate their culinary programs up to his standards. Young, budding chefs get one of the most sophisticated culinary educations available, and if they're good enough they start to train in some of the best restaurants and of course may eventually become one of Mr. Ducasse's new chefs. Imagine that: an army of cooks from all over the world–domination through food! At present, there are two Enderun kids now interning in his restaurant Le Jules Verne, which only happens to be located in the Eiffel Tower. Lucky bastards. We have been told they're having the time of their lives.
Apart from being here and giving his keynote speech, I'm guessing he's here to just soak everything in. This is a man, after all, who has a nose for seeking knowledge. After eating heaps of good ol' Pinoy cuisine, he will surely be sorting through our treasure trove of tropical fruit and produce. I wonder if someone will have enough cojones to sneak in a plate of balut?
It was very cool to find out that he is all about sourcing what is best locally, and doing the best he can with it–not very common here in Manila in this day and age of importing ingredients left and right. Wouldn't it be great for someone of this caliber to bring our food to the world's tables? I can't wait to eat at Le Jules Vern and order some adobo Ducasse. Someday, someday.
