French chef Hélène Darroze’s secret to five Michelin stars? Cooking like a woman, not a man
- Darroze, one of seven women worldwide running a three-Michelin-star kitchen, attributes her success and five Michelin stars to a feminine, ‘emotional’ touch
- ‘A man primarily wants to show off what he can do, whereas a woman wants to please,’ says the French chef, who stresses she has ‘great respect’ for male chefs
In a business dominated by men, French chef Hélène Darroze credits a feminine, “emotional” touch in the kitchen for her unprecedented leap from three to five Michelin stars this year.
Darroze is a household name in France thanks to her appearances on US reality competition Top Chef – famous enough even to have a Barbie doll in her image.
And when the latest Michelin guide was published last month, the 53-year-old became the first woman to pick up two stars at once: a third for her London restaurant at The Connaught hotel and a second for Marsan in Paris, France.
That puts her in a tiny club of just seven women worldwide who run a three-star kitchen.
She is adamant that her womanhood is the reason for her success: “Men and women are not made in the same way,” she says. “And it shows on the plate.”