Breaking Bread with Chef Dominique Crenn
Forget everything you thought you knew about dining on a boat. Meet Chef Dominique Crenn – of the 3 Michelin star Atelier Crenn – who is charting a new course for French river cruising on board Les Bateaux Belmond, her new culinary canvas.
On a summer’s afternoon, we sat down with Chef Dominique Crenn, the newly appointed Culinary Curator of Les Bateaux Belmond onboard Coquelicot in Champagne, to discover the inspiration behind her menus for our fleet of river boats. Charting her career from France to becoming the first female chef in the United States to attain three Michelin stars, for her restaurant Atelier Crenn in San Francisco.
What was the moment you knew food was what inspired you?
Going down to my grandmother’s garden and picking up a tomato. My grandmother was a farmer; at that moment I don’t know what happened, but I just looked at this tomato and I looked at the vine and I looked at the connection to the earth and ground to the tomato. I picked it up, put it in my mouth and closed my eyes. It was messy but it was all the layers of life that I was tasting.
Why is storytelling so important to you when you create dishes?
Food tells a story and if you are a chef, you have to tell a story on the plate. If you look at tribes or any civilisation, through the food that they’ve been servings for years and centuries, you can understand the culture of that area, the time and the place. As a chef, it's the way I want to tell my story and where I come from.
How did you bring your love of France’s culinary culture to menus onboard Les Bateaux Belmond?
France is such a special place for me. I was born here, and I appreciate the savoir faire here, the art, the nature, the canals and the people, so working on the menus for Les Bateaux Belmond. was such an incredible journey. To create the menus, we looked at this history of the region, from that you get the produce and the style of cooking. My team and I closed our eyes and asked ourselves: "if we are the guests, what do we want to eat?" and that’s how we started.
Breaking Bread
Breaking Bread with Raymond Blanc
When Raymond Blanc found the historic manor house that would become Le Manoir, he said it was ‘love at first sight’. Forty years on, we spent the day reminiscing with Raymond about his vision for Le Manoir and his culinary inspirations.
Breaking Bread with André Chiang
With every dish he creates, Chef André Chiang wants to capture the taste of a place and the story of a journey. We stepped into the kitchen of the culinary curator onboard the Eastern & Oriental Express as it travels through Malaysia for an insight into his culinary philosophy and the art of writing a menu.
Breaking Bread with Pía León
Through numerous ancient ingredients and centuries of history, discover the DNA of new restaurant ‘Mauka’ with the celebrated Peruvian chef at the helm: Pía León.
Breaking Bread with Luiz Filipe
Nestled within whispering distance of Brazil’s Iguassu Falls, Restaurant Y pays tribute to the region’s deep connection with water. Meet Luiz Filipe, the Michelin-starred chef at the helm, who is dedicated to showcasing his country’s rich culinary traditions on the most dramatic natural stage.