ProfileWhy a Michelin-star French chef prefers bistro cooking, and the secret to the croque-monsieur his team at Ami in Hong Kong serve
- Nicolas Boutin went to Dublin to learn English, hotels to learn management and Boston to perfect the burger, and is head chef at Épure and Ami in Hong Kong
- He talks about becoming a sous chef with Michel Troisgros at 24, working in paradise and his take on the classic croque-monsieur
“I was born in Châtellerault, over 300km southwest of Paris. I left school at 14 years old, I didn’t like it and wasn’t good anyway. I had to do something. I like to work with my hands, learn by practice, so in France you either become a mechanic or go into food and beverage.
“I first did a pre-apprenticeship in a charcuterie, then catering in Châtellerault and apprenticeships in small restaurants and hotels. When I was 18 years old, I moved to nearby Poitiers, to work in fine dining.”
Where did you go afterwards?
“A year later, in 1989, I wanted to push myself. I went to the Michelin-starred Maison Lameloise, run by chef Jacques Lameloise. I had to keep going because I didn’t have much financial support from my family. It was a very classic restaurant. I learned about brigades that had more than 20 chefs. I started doing vegetables, then rotisserie and pastry, and learned how to survive, because as the younger one in the kitchen you have to adapt to working with different people.”
What was working with chef Lameloise like?
“At the vegetable station I made mashed potatoes just before service. I cooked then peeled them, and wasn’t supposed to cut them. But one time I did, and Jacques saw it and screamed at me and everyone knew about it.
“When I moved to another station, I could tell the guy who replaced me didn’t give a damn about what he was doing. One day he didn’t have enough mashed potatoes and so he took the trimmings from the fridge and put them in the pot and didn’t even cover it to cook faster. Jacques came and I thought that was going to be the end but he didn’t say anything.
“When I left Maison Lameloise, I asked Jacques about that. He said, ‘Usually, when you have good people, you push them to do what they should do, but the other ones you leave on the side.’ Only then did I know he liked me.”
How did you like working at Michelin-starred Les Frères Troisgros?
“When I was around 23 years old, I started working there as a commis chef. Then, three weeks later, I became a chef de partie. Then Michel Troisgros let me go to the hot station and after a year he promoted me to sous chef, at 24 years old. I was able to travel with them to places like Canada and the United States.