ProfileHead chef of Michelin-starred Louise in Hong Kong on culture shock in Japan, a kitchen where ‘every day was like a fight’ and his favourite ingredient
- Franckelie Laloum’s father was a chef and restaurateur in Provence, and he started in kitchens at 17, working in fine dining in France, Turkey and Japan
- He talks about an ultracompetitive kitchen in Paris, having to make club sandwiches at the Ritz-Carlton Tokyo, and why he has a thing for citrus fruit
“My father had a bistro in Provence, in the south of France, and then he worked for another in the area as the chef. Every day after school I went to the restaurant. It was difficult because my parents were working, so I was alone most of the time, until I had a younger sister. But the good thing was there were vineyards, cherry trees, a forest, and I had a lot of friends. We rode bicycles and played football.”
When did you decide to become a chef?
“When I was 13 years old we moved to Paris. I finished school at 17, then did a programme for one week at culinary school and two weeks working in a restaurant that was tied to the school. I worked in that kitchen, then pastry, altogether for three years. I have uncles and aunts who owned restaurants, too, so I grew up in this environment.
“When I went to culinary school there were some students who didn’t know what lobster, salmon or peaches were, so for me that was really funny.”
Tell us about your first professional job.
“At the end of 1999, the chef at the restaurant I was apprenticing at wanted me to stay in pastry, but I wanted to go back to the kitchen to cook. He asked me where I wanted to go, and I said fine dining. He knew chef Christian Le Squer, at Alléno Paris au Pavillon Ledoyen (in Paris), and got me an introduction.