Anne-Sophie Pic is the Queen of Stars: No female chef before her had gathered so many. But now she has decided to slow down, and regarding her restaurant in Megève, she says, "I asked my chef Alexandre Alves Pereira to take it easy when we started. I didn't want two stars too quickly."
The chef
Three Michelin stars in Valence, two in Lausanne and London, one each in Paris and Megève, in the French Alps: a total of nine Michelin stars for Anne-Sophie Pic, an all-time record for a woman. "I want people to experience the sense of place when they eat my cuisine," she describes her secret. "This makes them happy."
In Megève, for example, she decided to educate herself in foraging by diving into the natural world. "It's truly a full-time job. Plants change with altitude. I've come across so many flavors that have inspired me. I used to look up at the sky, now I'm focused on the ground," she reveals to cityam.com. The result is a six-course tasting menu where balsamic and wild aromas enhance freshwater fish, game, and cheeses; here, the iconic berlingot ravioli, the house's signature, is filled with Beaufort cheese and absinthe, just to give an example. And lightness sets the rule: little butter, even less cream and sugar, even in desserts.
"When I took my first steps in the kitchen, I looked to other forms of art for inspiration, rather than just focusing on the plate. Cooking is chemistry, whether you're making a distilled alcohol, a sauce, a wine, or a perfume, all processes are interconnected." Among the house's techniques is "enfleurage", aimed at capturing the volatile essence of herbs or flowers through fat, to fix it in sauces. Customers appreciate it, and the Dame de Pic herself seems content. "I asked my chef Alexandre Alves Pereira to take it easy when we started. I didn't want two stars too quickly."
