Fresh from being awarded the Legion of Honor, Mauro Colagreco talks about his difficult beginnings in Paris, while Argentina was overwhelmed by the economic crisis, his triumph and then the pandemic, which "saved him from success": "What a danger it is to work for awards!"
The story
Mauro Colagreco was missing only a few titles in his list of achievements, as he already holds Three MICHELIN Stars and is an UNESCO ambassador. He is also part of the Best of the Best, after earning the title in a magical 2019. Now, he has also been awarded the knighthood of the Legion of Honor, making him the most awarded chef in France.
@David Fernandez
However, the beginnings were not easy for this big guy from La Plata, grandson of a woman from Bilbao and a former rugby player, who still speaks with a Spanish accent. "The French are very chauvinistic and proud of their gastronomy, but being in Menton, almost in Italy, allowed me to isolate myself from the jealousy of both sides. If I had been in Paris, it would have been more difficult, they probably would have really made me feel like an intruder. Instead, they had no choice but to accept me."
"I arrived in France in 2000 to learn, with the idea of returning to Argentina after a few years, but with the economic crisis in my country, that intention evaporated. I worked in some of the best restaurants and lived in Paris for three years, a beautiful but very oppressive city, until I started looking for another place to put down roots. As a foreigner, unknown and without money, everything I looked at was out of my reach. Until someone told me about a beautiful restaurant in Menton, closed for four or five years. I went to see it, full of references, but the owner was not interested. He realized my enthusiasm was far greater than my financial capabilities, and he let me in with a very low rent and a promise of sale."
@David Fernandez
"I arrived with recipes prepared in Paris, but I realized that I did not know the ingredients, the producers, or the seasons. I felt like a child discovering new things every day. The exuberance of nature, the subtropical microclimate, the mountain and the sea within reach, the forest, the French and Italian influences... I believe that being an outsider allowed me to express myself with complete freedom in the kitchen.
“The pandemic brought me down from my pedestal. When you are caught up in the whirlwind of work, events, and media, you can't stop to reflect for a second. In that year, when we would have dedicated all our energy to meeting the expectations of those who sought to be number one, I devoted myself to finding my family and the meaning of my work, to projecting the future of Mirazur. Thanks to all of this, we are not just surfing on past success, but we feel like a new restaurant with a lot to say. In a sense, the pandemic saved me from success. In Argentina, there are no such awards. I was at the restaurant when Bernard Loiseau shot himself out of fear of losing his 3rd Star, and in me, a visceral rejection of working for awards developed. What a trap!”
Source: La Rioja
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