Photo credit: Courtesy of the Embassy of France
“I think it’s important to eat good food and to socialize at the same time; it just goes together. I think that’s one thing that we have lost in this country – to eat together and share our secrets and share what we think during the day especially with kids,” Austrian born restaurateur Nora Pouillon told an enthusiastic culinary group who were invited to dine at the Residence of the Ambassador of France, Gérard Araud. “I grew up going to the Lycée Français and I cannot thank the French people enough for introducing me to the right way to eat. In school, we were served a 3-course meal. You learned to sit at a table of 8 or 10, not only to eat properly with a knife and fork, but also to have a conversation with somebody you might not really like.”
Nora Pouillon (left)
“It was a wonderful education because not only did you have to peel an orange with a knife and fork, but you had also to say, ‘What are you doing this afternoon?’ and ‘Who are you?’ By having this conversation,” she added, “at the end of the meal you found out that this person is somebody like you.” Nora is the owner of Restaurant Nora in NW Washington, DC; a pioneer and champion of organic, environmentally conscious cuisine; and the author of My Organic Life: How a Pioneering Chef Helped Shape the Way We Eat Today. (see our interview with Nora and video below)
Pouillon is a favorite of the First Lady for her healthy menu choices and was acknowledged by Debra Eschmeyer, Executive Director of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move!” campaign and senior White House Policy Advisor for Nutrition. “To the Department of Agriculture, to the Department of Health and Human Services, to everything that folks are doing at convenience stores to the biggest stores in the United States to ensure that families have health care products, we thank you,” said Eschmeyer. “On top of that, the first lady has used every tool at her disposal including digital media to making sure that all parents are changing the school food, ensuring access to healthy food for everyone.”
Debra Eschmeyer
Nobody had to peel an orange at the extravagant dinner, nor did they sit next to someone they didn’t like that we know of. Guests dined on Lacquered asparagus with caviar sauce and micro greens; John Dory with tangy carrots; Veal round with grilled eggplant, cherry tomato confit and spring vegetables; Brie with truffles and Chocolate tarts with raspberries prepared by Chef Michel Bastid. Merci!
Chef Bastid was born in southern sunny France which shaped his earliest childhood by the warmth and friendliness of that part of France where meals with friends and family offered moments of shared pleasure. At age 15, he attended one of the area’s hotel management schools; at 17, he discovered professional cooking. He continued to learn from the masters of French cuisine. Before leaving for Washington, the newly arrived Chef won the 2016 Gault & Millau Young Talent award. Welcome!
“It’s my privilege and honor to be here this evening for the second edition of the ‘Goût de France.’ We decided to do a bit of a Tour de France tonight with the wines.,” said Mark Wessels of MacArthur Beverages. “The first wine was from Touraine, a pure Sauvignon Blanc. The second wine was a Chablis from a producer named Jean Paul Droin; again, classic Chablis – stony, flinty, crisp. That’s what Chablis is supposed to taste like. The other thing we wanted to do tonight was to show wines from small, family-owned producers.” Wessels went on to describe the wine settling in what seemed liked endless glasses – all extraordinary.
Mark Wessels
After dessert, Hollywood on the Potomac sat down with David Hagedorn for a few catch up moments. He has a new book coming out on Rasika Restaurant due in May published by Harper Collins. He has also written books for Todd and Ellen Gray and Brian Armstrong. “I’m a former chef myself, so they understand that I have the experience and the knowledge that we can shorthand a lot of the process. Rasika’s 10th anniversary was this year. He was finally ready to write a book and we’ve been discussing it vaguely for a little bit of time. He figured the time was right. Vikram Sunderam, the Chef, won the James Beard award for Chef of the mid-Atlantic last year, so now’s the time.”
“Vikram and I chose the dishes that we would cover in the book, many of which are at the restaurant. One of the dishes included will be the Palak Chaat, their famous fried spinach dish that everyone always wants the recipe to that the Chef always refused to divulge. It’s going to be divulged. In fact, I was just making it yesterday, testing it. It’s very delicious. We chose all of the things that would be in the book. Vikram would come over to my house so that everything would be made on the same kind of stove and oven that people have in their homes.” See our previous interview with David here.
So how does the Indian cuisine fit into the first lady’s agenda? “Well, Indian cooking is very heavily vegetarian. Many of the dishes are vegan. Many of the dishes are gluten free. I can’t say that they’re all fat free. Good carbohydrates, lentils, legumes are certainly a part of the Indian diet, legumes and pulses, kidney beans, lentils, dhal is one of our well known Indian dishes. An Indian meal, if it has protein, it would likely be a very little bit of protein and a lot of sauce to be eaten with rice and bread, staples of the Indian diet. Also, the spices, of course, are ayurvedic. They’re very good for you. That’s what a part of the combinations like fenugreek, they have health benefits.”
Goût de France or Good France, as the evening was called, was a one of a kind unique night to savor France. Goût de France/Good France celebrated French gastronomy in various locations worldwide on 21st March, 2016. Over a 1,700 chefs on all five continents were expected to join the event. Dinners served simultaneously in participating restaurants also honored the merits of French cuisine, its capacity for innovation, and its values: sharing, enjoying, and respecting the principles of high-quality, environmentally responsible cuisine.
Hollywood on the Potomac’s interview with Nora Pouillon:
