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On What Makes A Real Chef

"He is not a real chef," says Guillaume Brault about his father. And as if quickly realizing how his words
were speckled with a little bit of not-quite-right, enough to make anyone who knew Gils Brault to turn
their heads slightly askew, waiting for the punchline.

Gils Brault, after all, was someone who was already foraging in his grandparent's forest backyard in
Chatellerault* even before René Redzepi made it cool. At 14 years old, he would hunt, fish, and take
whatever it is that the forest will give and make delicious meals out of it.

He was also someone who opened his first restaurant with Alain Ducasse, before he turned into a
mythical figure in the culinary world and heralded as the Ambassador of French cooking with his food
enough to make even the toughest of chefs cry. And together with another soon-to-be legend in
French cuisine, Jacques Maximin*, Le Café de la Poste* opened in Binot in 1985.

Chef Gils was also years ahead of chef turned author and television personality, Anthony Bourdain, in
drinking and eating his way around the world. At 17, he began his culinary education in the kitchens of
Arbois*, Noven/Novelle*, and Chateu d'artigny*, where he acquired, not just techniques in cooking,
but also in wine and service. And like a character from a Kerouac novel, he had places to go. He simply
picked a place and went there, letting - appropriately enough - only the fire in his belly to guide him.

He spent some time honing his craft as a sommelier in the French Riviera, before flying off to the
bright lights of New York and then hitting up the pubs in London. But unlike Bourdain who traded his
knife for a pen, he kept his as sharp as the day he bought it.

When he went back to France, he trained once again in kitchens of, what he approximates was around
30 restaurants. Including Le Bonne Auberge, Bacon cap Antibes*, Cuisine Novelle where his focus was
mainly traditional French cuisine, and Cabestan, a restaurant owned by the President of France.

In 1991, he opened Cour Gourmand* which wholly defined his gastronomic, and perhaps even his
life's philosophy. Because a gourmand is someone whose sole and most powerful culinary arsenal is a
voracious palate, relentlessly asking the question: What's next?

For Cour Gourmand, what's next was success. In just four months, the queu of customers grew until
seemed like the line of people wrapped around Cour Gourmand, as if protecting their newly found
food haven. At its peak, the restaurant was serving 300 covers for lunch.

"The restaurant was so full that no seats would be available for hours," says Guillaume "But they liked
it there so much, that they would just take their food, go to the space where we pack things. They
would pull a box or a barrel and turn it into a seat. It was a moment for them to take off their jacket,
relax, eat, and have fun. It was really, really special."

It didn't take long until they were serving more customers than they could, catering a minimum of
three weddings on the same weekend, while expanding the restaurant with the hopes of being able
to give everyone great food.

"There was one Christmas in the restaurant where we had to prepare two tons of salmon from
Norway. It took us like ten days, working night and day," recalls Guillaume with fondness "My father is
a really hardworker. And because he hasn't slept for like three days, I saw him, falling asleep while he
was slicing a salmon. He works really hard."

A strict work ethic that took him from catering weddings on the weekends to laying out a banquet for
luxury brands like Chanel and Audi. "They heard of how good his food was, and just personally asked
for him to cater their events."

But, hounded by his insatiable gourmand curiosity, it wasn't long until he was again asking: What's
next? Like culinary genius David Chang who looked to the East to expand his gustatory landscape, he
sold his restaurant, packed his bags, and made his way to Vietnam.

In Vietnam, he found a culinary wonderland, with flavors, aromas, and ingredients so different from
what he knew, that instead of knowing, his journey became one of unknowing. He had to set aside
everything that he knew, to open himself up to the possibilities of something new.
"The restaurant was so far away from the main area. It's hard even for the locals to find it," says
Guillaume about Les Trois Gourmands location "But my father, he doesn't care about the location.
What matters to him is the quality of the ingredients and how it's cooked. He wants to make food that
when people try it, they know they had something special."

Le Trois Gourmands soon became a special place for Vietnamese gourmands who like their fair share
of Crab Tartare, Scrambled Eggs with Truffles, Beef Cheeks with Foie Gras, Raspberry mille feuille, and
a glass of calvados.

When Lonely Planet included it as one of the restaurants to go to in Vietnam, tourists flocked to have
a taste. But more often than not, they would walk out (or at least try) of the restaurant stricken with
food coma. "My father is very generous. He would offer everyone cheese platters, bread, wine. No
one came out of the restaurant without enough food."

Soon, international media outlets from Singaporean magazines to European TV shows were at his
restaurant's door. "Once, he called me and said, 'Help me. There is a Japanese TV crew in the
restaurant and I don't know what to do.' He was panicking. He doesn't speak English, you see. It was
very funny." recalls Guillaume.

But even now that the restaurant is a choice destination for local and international gourmands, the
question of "What's next?" still lingers in Chef Gils mind. So when his now partners, told him it was
the best food they've ever had in their lives, it became obvious that what's next is a restaurant in the
Philippines.

"Le Jardin will serve authentic French cuisine. But like in Les Trois Gourmands, we will also incorporate
the use of local ingredients in our dishes. It's very important for my father to source local ingredients,"
says Guillaume "In Vietname, he's a big fan of the local fish sauce and uses that in a lot of his dishes.
And it surprisingly mixes well with French flavors."

Perhaps owing to his father's sommelier background, Guillaume shares the rare wine that will only be
available in Le Jardin. "My father he works with small and independent wine producers. He's known
most of them for 20 to 25 years. He knows character and the story of the wines that he get," he says.
"This particular wine has a very small distribution, just about 4000 bottles a year. It seldom makes its
way out of the area where its made. But because they have a relationship with my father, they have
agreed to bring that wine here. And only here."

On his last sip of espresso, Guillaume talks about his vision for Le Jardin, “In Vietnam, there are now
18,000 – 20,000 French people living there. You can ask any of them and they know the restaurant
and my father. Here in the Philippines there are only 8,000 French people and millions of Filipinos,
and I hope that everyone of the would know the restaurant and my father.”

So what is a real chef? Is it someone who has mastered the art of mise-en-place and serves up haute
cusine from a three Michelin star restaurant? Or a nourisher, cooking son cœur est à la bonne place
(with their heart in the right place)? The great ones like Chef Gils Brault of Le Jardin, fortunately, is
both.

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