Celebrated Michelin star Chef hints at Indian outing

Chef Yves Mattagne, long associated with Michelin starred restaurants, is exploring opportunities in India

Chef Yves Mattagne is a stickler for detail. Each succeeding platter of a seven-course meal he serves up is a fresh piece of art, where food seems to transform into shapes and sizes magically you wouldn't have thought possible. Nor is it just about the look; every dish elicits audible expressions of pleasure from diners. It isn't a quick meal either, stretching to over three hours—mainly because the Chef personally plated or supervised each emerging platter from the kitchen at The Chambers at Taj Mahal Hotel, Delhi, recently.

For gourmands, chef Yves Mattagne, 59, is a familiar name, chiefly for his masterful presence at Sea Grill, which opened in 1990. Located in central Brussels' Radisson Blu, it won its first Michelin star the following year and a second in 1997, retaining both until it shut on December 31, 2019, due to its refurbishment. It reopened at La Villa Lorraine, where the Chef runs the restaurant and a bar, essentially continuing Sea Grill's menu. Villa Lorraine was the first restaurant outside of France to clinch three Michelin stars.

Pineapple Roasted With Spices. Credit: Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi

Indians of a certain vintage would have another reason to connect with him. In its heydays, read 2009, Jet Airways, the airline that was forced to shut down and is returning to the skies in October this year after a three-year gap, used much-appreciated menus designed by the Chef for its continental menus on international flights.

A rare western chef who is not classically trained—he went from his military service to working in restaurants in Belgium, the country of his birth. His work trajectory includes working in Hilton and Radisson, besides a couple of Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris.

"Cooking is my passion. In school, you learn about management, the real job you learn in the kitchen," said the Chef. He is also a strong advocate of not wasting food.

"No part of the vegetable should go into the bin. When I see food in plastic or the bin, I get very upset." He also tries to use food that is local and seasonal.

"It's important to respect the season. This year, it's been very hot in Belgium and vegetables such as green peas are out, which we can use. "You must respect the season," says the Chef, who changes the menu eight to ten times a year. He also admits a significant change in the kitchen has been technology.

Watermelon-based dessert. Credit: Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi

"There are many more kinds of processes now—slow cooking, low temperatures—there are many different ways of cooking one fish. Some things are easier." Also, he says there are so many new products in the market, as is the consumer.

For him, the real flavours of any place are found in "typical restaurants," something he loves to explore during his visits. "Later, I go to a 'fashion restaurant' for design and concept."

"Gastronomy is changing because chefs travel so much," says Mattagne, who said that his food imbibes the influence of places he travels to with the classical French-Belgian cooking.
While Villa Lorraine was being renovated, the Chef ran a pop-up restaurant—the Art Club—on the famous Place Royale, serving world cuisine "to share" inspired by his travels abroad.

Scallops. Credit: Taj Mahal Hotel, New Delhi

As with countless others, the Covid-induced lockdown era led to multiple changes for Mattagne, from increasing his digital presence to international expansion. The latter is a possibility he is exploring and confident of bringing to fruition in India.

Getting a Yves Mattagne outlet will indeed be a coup for India as it seeks to become a global gastronomic destination. Also on the cards is the international expansion of Gaufres & Waffles, which was launched in September 2019 and is expanding in Germany and Belgium.