Bruno Verjus: ‘I’m the oldest, youngest chef’

Bruno Verjus is clearly not someone who plays it by the book. Now 64, he only opened his Paris restaurant, Table, 10 years ago. Cut to today and it has two Michelin stars and this year was the highest new entry on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, ranking 10th.

“I’m the oldest, youngest chef,” laughs Verjus, with evident delight. “Age isn’t important. What matters is your approach. Is that a game-changer? I am offering a different take on haute gastronomy,” he challenges. “I want to make people understand, through the way we nourish ourselves, how we can live in our ever-changing and challenging world. I want to literally feed the soul.”

I first met Verjus, then a highly regarded food blogger, back in 2010. We were both guests at Alain Ducasse’s 20th anniversary of Louis XV in Monte Carlo. His route to opening his own restaurant was unusual. He attended medical school in Lyon, lived in China for nearly two decades and started a medical device and packaging company which he sold in 2005. He began hosting a radio show ‘Don’t Talk with Your Mouth Full’ and in 2013, he opened Table with just 24 covers, arranged around a tin counter designed by Verjus himself.

_{Baby squids} 

In retrospect, do you think it was daring or crazy to open Table with no background in the restaurant industry?

I was in denial of reality. I believe that if you want to accomplish something drastically different, it is the only way. If I had thought about it practically, it would have pushed me back.

Is there one chef who has had a particularly strong influence on you?

Alain Passard, who is totally product orientated. He takes vegetables, truly everything, to a whole other level. Yet, he has taught me to hold back, to use my instinct and intelligence to not do too much. I believe I can have ideas because of Passard. He pushed me to imagine something different, right out of the box. He’s a beautiful soul and he has been so supportive of my recent success.

I also love to talk with Bernard Pacaud, the founder of three-star L’Ambroisie. I consider the restaurant a love letter to classic haute cuisine.

How has your interest in jazz influenced your approach to cooking?

Creating new dishes is done by cooking, not doing endless sketches as so many chefs do. I think of it as culinary improvisation: it is the momentum I need to be open to new interpretations. At the start of every meal. I look at what kind of light the day has and how I am feeling when deciding which notes to bring out.

How did you get taken seriously about renting restaurant premises as a newcomer?

I found a very cheap place in a forgotten district of Paris, the 12th. I used money from the sale of my medical business to get me started, so the landlord took me on. I started from scratch: the menu was 25 euro and I could only attract chefs with little culinary knowledge or social skills.

_{Couleur du jour}

Is Verjus really your name and do you like to use the ingredient?

It truly is my surname, very apt to have the surname of an ingredient whose fruity acidity I use a lot. I make sauce viergus, my take on the classic green sauce vierge.

The way you work with producers is rather different, can you explain more?

I have a deep reverence for my producers. I don’t give them a shopping list. I just want them to give me what they think is at its best. Every morning when we open the parcel, it is like a surprise party and makes us so creative. I don’t like to stay in my comfort zone, and, nor should my chefs.

_Donburi

Your approach to mise en place is also radically at odds with most chefs who work in haute cuisine.

I don’t believe in mise en place. Who wants food prepared hours in advance so that all the nutrients are diminished? We prepare and cook à la minute. It is disorientating for the chefs who’ve been drilled in three-star kitchens to prep, prep, prep, yet after a time, they wholly embrace it. Doing absolutely everything in front of the customers at the kitchen counter is a real joy.

Where have you visited that’s had a huge impact on how you cook?

In January, I went to the Udine Festival in Friuli Venezia and I was blown away by all the winter bitter leaves: so crunchy, bitter, yet with a tantalising sweetness. I am always on a quest for new ingredients and like to know their history.

Can you explain your legendary lobster dish?

It was a texture revelation for me. When I travelled in Japan, I ate lobster sashimi and I was after a similar incredible texture. I toast the shells on the grill and momentarily poach the lobster in warm ghee just before serving, so the lobster is the temperature of the mouth. The idea is that customers will think the lobster is grilled, as it is warm, but technically it is still raw. Hence the name mi cuit, mi cru.

Can you explain the salad and herb dish, couleur de jour that every guest at Table starts their meal with?

This introduces the idea of eating micro-seasonally, as in Japanese kaiseki, the vegetables, salad and herbs may change each day. It opens your palate and is for digestion too.

_{Foie gras and bottarga}

How would you define the way you host guests?

I was 50 years on the side of the eater. We are customer-centric, the opposite of old-style fine dining where it is so much about ego and performance. I see myself as a nurturer. I want guests to feel like they are being hosted at my home.

It is early days, but what has been the impact of making such a strong new entry into The World’s 50 Best?

The energy is fantastic. It has brought beautiful new customers, who are more educated in food and enjoy the element of surprise. It makes us feel so free and super happy.

_{Chocolate, capers, caviar}

Is it impossible to get a reservation at Table now?

We are fully booked right up to September. However, I love spontaneity, so it is really important to me that I keep a few seats back to release on the day.

Where do you like to shop and eat in Paris?

The Butcher of Paris is my new favourite. They work with so many interesting heritage breeds and have phenomenal wines.

Where in the world would you still most like to visit?

I’d love to go to Tahiti. I love the sea and I like the idea of exploring an ancient culture and plants, fruits and seafood whose tastes I don’t know. That’s my kind of adventure.