They are twenty to activate in the kitchens of the Elysée Palace to concoct the meals of the presidency of the Republic. Even more so if we count the sommeliers, the maîtres d’hôtel, the florists, the treasurers, the linen workers… Here, the kitchens have to provide hundreds of daily meals, for all those who work there, such as the gendarmes or the advisers. . A tough task from which we especially remember the great state dinners, those where crowned heads and presidents of so many countries throng.
Gastronomy at the service of the nation
Our gastronomy, accompanied by a major asset, the great French wines, finds here the perfect opportunity to serve the nation. And the tenant of the Elysée, whatever his political label, has never failed to make the kitchen, like the cellar, the showcase of renowned know-how. A mark of power. “In all the palaces of power, the chefs of the kitchens help those who run the countries to sit around the same table. They make these moments an invitation to friendship, dialogue and peace.wrote Emmanuel Macron, in his introduction to the beautiful, richly illustrated book by Guillaume Gomez, At the table of presidents (Le Cherche Midi, 2020).
“All the presidents had an appetite for French gastronomy, and the desire to promote it”, assures the cook Guillaume Gomez
The 43-year-old author, who reigned for nearly twenty-five years over the kitchens of the Elysée, from 1997 to 2021, and knew four presidents – Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy, François Hollande and Emmanuel Macron -, tells the story well. issue of the function. “I had the privilege of working with presidents of different ages, sensibilities and culinary cultures, but they all had an appetite for French gastronomy, and the desire to promote it”assures Guillaume Gomez, appointed ambassador of French know-how by the president.
Of course, fashions have evolved. Already, we spend less time at the table. The three to four hours of an official meal, under General de Gaulle, have become about an hour and a quarter. Dishes have been lightened and attention to supplies has been worked on. With this obsession: wines, fish, vegetables, meats or cheeses must praise the terroirs.
Winegrowers, breeders, farmers, craftsmen… there are many of them who ask the chef, today Fabrice Desvignes, aptly named, or the sommelier of the Elysée, Virginie Routis, 42, in office since 2007, daily so that their products cross the doors of the kitchens and the cellar. The first, 48, Meilleur Ouvrier de France, Bocuse d’Or, came from the famous kitchens of the Senate, likes to tell the time when a poultry farmer from the Landes called him to offer him guinea fowl, ducks, chickens “Grain Raised”. And how this lady, every three months, loads a dozen of her poultry and travels 700 kilometers at night to come and deliver the Elysée at 7:30 a.m. “The quality of the terroir and a double reward, for her as for us, at the Elysée”tells, moved, Fabrice Desvignes.
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