Paris is one of the world’s most alluring destinations. So, when I recently met up with Le Cordon Bleu, Paris’ Chef Guillaume Siegler, to ask him a few questions about his adopted home from a resident’s point of view, I was not surprised by his responses. With a tenure at numerous Michelin starred restaurants and a residency in Tokyo where he learned the delicate art of educating in the kitchen, his responses reveal why he has an ongoing love affair with the City of Light.
What is your go to restaurant?
Paris is overflowing with an array of all kinds of quality restaurants, and after living here 10 years, I think many things have evolved.
Excellent traditional cuisine is widely available and often elevated to a whole new level by young chefs who showcase “terroirs” and “techniques,” “fusion” and “signature” cuisine. Having spent a number of years abroad, personally I have a soft spot for the Parisian brasseries where the menus fill you with French pride and where you are guaranteed to have a great time. In the words of our famous alumna, Julia Child, who spread the reach of French cuisine in the United States: BON APPETIT!
What is your favorite restaurant for a special occasion?
It depends on my mood but Café du Dôme in Montparnasse, dating back to 1898, which was renamed Brasserie Le Dôme (one plate in the 2017 Michelin Guide), is one of my favorites. It is one of the few Parisian brasseries to have retained its authenticity, combining extremely well-executed cuisines from the “terroir” in a relaxed Art Deco setting. This brasserie also features in a number of works, including A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway.
Another favorite is Restaurant Pierre Gagnaire (3 stars in the Michelin Guide), a creative heaven where each dish is more ingenious than the last. The cuisine there awakens creative instincts, and makes me rethink the way I look at my cuisine.
What is your favorite local food to eat or prepare?
To eat: rum baba or savarin, a delicious cake created in the 18th century and one of the classics, which is still taught at Le Cordon Bleu institutes.
To prepare: all meats, especially “roasted” or “sauté” for their different textures and tastes which I try to capture and intensify; it gives me, and the students to whom I teach these culinary techniques, a real buzz.
What ingredient can you find in your city that you can’t find anywhere else?
It’s just above our heads at the institute!! It is Paris Honey: Le Cordon Bleu honey. Here at Le Cordon Bleu Paris institute we have the third largest “vegetable garden” in Paris totaling almost 9,000 square feet with 3 bee hives producing unique honey! Each jar is numbered and the honey is delicate and full of golden flavors: a little jar of happiness!
Where do you like to go on Saturday night?
Again, making new discoveries is often more enjoyable than sticking to what you know. Nothing beats strolling the lively neighborhood of Montparnasse and the Mouffetard district in the Latin Quarter, or a little further beyond the Marais towards Oberkampf on the right bank.
I never decide in advance, I’m constantly on the move in my city.
What is your favorite attraction in the city?
Visiting any one of the museums! There is so much variety reminding us of “mankind” and its creations in all their diversity. They provide much needed inspiration … and after the museums, I like to visit one of our amazing pâtisseries, such as Stohrer, the oldest in Paris (opened in 1730); Chef Christophe Michalak in the Marais; or Pierre Hermé on rue Bonaparte.
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What is your favorite shopping street?
Rue Etienne Marcel and Le Passage du Grand Cerf in Les Halles for both my professional and personal needs.
What is your favorite museum?
The famous Musée des Arts Décoratifs then of course the Louvre, and the musée du Quai Branly Jacques Chirac.
I love them all!
What is your favorite monument in the city?
Rather than monuments, or one monument in particular, Parisian gardens are intoxicating: a fleeting moment of peace before diving headfirst back into urban chaos. There are the Luxembourg Gardens on the fringe of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Latin Quarter, Parc Monceau and Parc Montsouris, as well as a multitude of small squares found in every arrondissement in the capital, where the city’s best-kept secrets can be found.
Are there any secret things that you love to do in your city?
After work, I enjoy relaxing on the Ile aux Cygnes, at the foot of the Statue of Liberty, opposite Le Cordon Bleu Paris institute. As nighttime descends, I enjoy strolling, and wandering with friends along the banks of the Seine around the Ile Saint Louis and Ile de la Cité because those magic moments are even better when shared.
