Creating deluxe cuisine is like playing a sport. Always competitive. Always challenging. And if you slow down a bit, you can no longer return to the top level.
Interpretation
Creating high-level cuisine requires constant effort and competitiveness.
This quote by Joel Robuchon emphasizes the parallel between the culinary arts and sports, highlighting that just as athletes must consistently train and maintain their competitive edge, chefs must also strive for excellence in their craft. The quote suggests that any lapse in commitment can hinder one's ability to achieve top-tier quality in cooking, underlining the demands of the culinary profession.
In practice
In a cooking class, you might share this quote to inspire students to push their culinary skills.
When new cooks come to work for me, they obviously make mistakes at the beginning or there's some messiness to the presentation. What I always say to them is: 'If you were cooking this for your mother or your girlfriend, would you make those mistakes?'
The older I get, the more I realize the truth is the simpler the food, the more exceptional it can be.
I am very honored for all the distinctions and accolades, but what I am most sensitive to is my clientele and the fact they are pleased with my food and my restaurants.
From the age of 15 to 50, I'd hardly stepped out of a kitchen. I just wanted to live a little, to spend time with my wife and children. The first time I saw snow was when I was 50, because I'd never had the time before.
When a dish works, it works for everyone, whether you're Asian, European, African, American or anybody else.
Sometime let gorgeous Tragedy In sceptred pall come sweeping by, Presenting Thebes, or Pelops' line, Or the tale of Troy divine.
What a creature he was! Never have I felt such a horse between my knees. His great haunches gathered under him with every stride, and he shot forward ever faster and faster, stretched like a greyhound, while the windbeat in my face and whistled past my ears.
Literature is a luxury; fiction is a necessity.
Overhead, the two moons worked together to bathe the world in a strange light.
For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream.
I dreamt of being a writer once I started to read. I started to write 'Bonjour Tristesse' in bistros around the Sorbonne. I finished it, I sent it to editors. It was accepted.
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