‘It was harder than military service’ – French chef on working for Joël Robuchon
With restaurants in Paris and Tokyo, Dominique Bouchet shares his experiences of learning from the greats, and why there is more to being a chef than simply cooking
How did you get interested in cooking? “I wanted to be a chef when I was eight years old. We lived in a big house in Clam, in the countryside in Poitou-Charentes, between Cognac and Bordeaux. The farm had a lot of produce – rabbit, chicken, vegetables, beef. We ate only seasonal food from the farm. Every Sunday I would help my mother cook for the whole family, including aunts and uncles – almost 30 people.”
Who inspired you to become a chef? “After school, my two brothers, sister and I were allowed to watch programmes on our black-and-white television until 7pm. At 6pm, there was a famous TV show with chef Raymond Oliver. I thought he was like a god. He wore a white jacket and white apron, and he was big and tall. After school, I would finish my homework as fast as I could so that I could watch that show.”
When did you meet chef Joël Robuchon? “I was 19 at the time; he is seven years older than me. He was the chef on a boat on the Seine river. A 75-year-old chef who knew both of us said I must meet Robuchon because he believed Robuchon would be famous.
“I worked for him for three months and then I did mandatory military service for a year. When I finished, Robuchon was [head chef for the opening of] Hôtel Concorde La Fayette [now Hyatt Regency Paris Étoile], the biggest hotel in Europe at the time. It was the first hotel to get a Michelin star and I worked for him for five years”