Michelin chef earns his stars outside kitchen, too

Pierre Gagnaire has three Michelin stars to prove he is an exception to the rule that all chefs have to be fat. The 1.82-metres-tall Frenchman looks younger than his 60 years, a characteristic he attributes to sport and exercise on a daily basis. And weighing in at 83kg he is certainly not a heavyweight in an industry noted for rotund figures.

But he does have heft in the French food industry, winning the top glory for any chef - three Michelin stars. He has also been ranked by the French media as the best chef in France.

While he is adept at whipping up a coq au vin or grenouille a la Provencale he is also no slouch in the business sense either. While many good chefs can run their kitchen well, they seldom have the entrepreneurial ability to transform their boutique restaurant into an internationally recognised chain.

Gagnaire now operates 10 restaurants mostly using the 'Pierre' name - including two restaurants he owns in Paris and establishments in Hong Kong, London, Tokyo, Dubai, Seoul, Las Vegas and Moscow. They are high-end eateries tailored for the business elite, serving lunches and dinner for between HK$500 and HK$2,000 per person.

Hong Kong's Pierre restaurant opened in 2006 on the top floor of the newly renovated Mandarin Oriental in Central. The restaurant was decorated in black and white because Gagnaire wanted a theatre-like atmosphere. To him, the food is not just food but a story to be told.

'Food is important in life,' he said. 'I try to make a story out of the food and to communicate this story with the customers. For lunch today, I will use mushrooms, as they are in season now. That tells a story about the seasons through the menu,' Gagnaire says.

The 'story' is also reflected in his latest autumn menu, with one item called 'white autumn composition'. The dish uses almost all vegetables and a white sauce. This fits in with Chinese culture where white represents autumn.