Meadowood's 12 Days: Alexandre Gauthier
The Restaurant at Meadowood’s annual 12 Days of Christmas guest chef series is underway. Here at Inside Scoop, we’re reviving our own tradition of tracking each night through the chefs’ words and their food — with a little help from Bonjwing Lee, a.k.a. the Ulterior Epicure, who is responsible for the gorgeous photos above.
You can check out past years here: 2013, 2012, 2011 and 2010.
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“To be a chef is OK.”
“But to stay a cook is better. I think you can stay a cook with 24 chefs with you. I think Christopher is like that and I hope I am like that … To be a cook is humility. Cuisine is humility because you start over all the time.”
So, Alexandre Gauthier speaks like a poet.
It’s unclear whether that is because of his thick French accent and the occasional struggle to come up with the proper English word, or maybe because of his deep baritone voice, a stark contrast to his baby-faced appearance.
Gauthier is the chef of La Grenouillère in La Madelaine sous Montreuil, which is high up in the northernmost reaches of France. He took over La Grenouillère in 2003 from his father, and has since rebuilt and reimagined it. The countryside restaurant is a few kilometers from the sea, and it’s the kind of area where Gauthier can shake hands with his farmers, gardeners and fishermen. His food, as you can see above, is strikingly gorgeous and singular.
“My spirit and my life can be in that place. It’s everything for me: My life, my story and the story of my family,” Gauthier says.
So what was his approach to creating the menu for the fourth night of Meadowood’s 12 Days?
“I would like to cook my spirit. But in Meadowood. The spirit of La Grenouillère, my French restaurant on the north coast — here.”
Day Four of the
Twelve Days of Christmas
December 10, 2014
pumpkin clementine
la grenouillere
eggwhite cucumber
la grenouillere
burnt scallop
la grenouillere
aji escabeche pine cream
the restaurant
red ravioli
la grenouillere
pigeon green wheat
la grenouillere
aged beef porcini
black aliums grits
the restaurant
marsh bubble
la grenouillere
chestnuts
the restaurant
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Williams Selyem
“Limestone Ridge at Vista Verde Vineyard”
Chenin Blanc 2010
Williams Selyem
“Hawk Hill Vineyard”
Chardonnay 2011
Williams Selyem
“Westside Road Neighbors”
Pinot Noir 2005
Williams Selyem
“Precious Mountain Vineyard”
Pinot Noir 2010
Williams Selyem
“Vista Verde Vineyard”
Port 2009
Previously:
· Day One: Matthew Orlando, Amass (Copenhagen)
· Day Two: Frank Castronovo and Frank Falcinelli of Frankies Spuntino (Brooklyn)
· Day Three: Kobe Desramaults, In De Wulf (Dranouter)