With "La Scène des Chefs", the gastronomic corner set up in the Athletes' Village in Seine-Saint-Denis, sports fans will be able to sample the (savoury) cuisine of three great French chefs: Alexandre Mazzia (three stars for AM in Marseille), Amandine Chaignot, queen of Parisian gourmet bistros, and Akrame Benallal a Michelin star for his eponymous restaurant in Paris.
Akrame Benallal: "I wanted to create a bridge between my restaurant and the Olympic Village".
The Michelin-starred chef, who also owns Shirvan in Paris and several restaurants in Marrakech, Doha and soon Kuwait, welcomes us to the very Parisian courtyard of his gourmet restaurant, a stone's throw from Place de la Concorde where the basketball 3x3, BMX freestyle, breaking and skateboard events will be held. Eager to cook for the athletes, the chef gives us a sneak preview of the menu.
I really wanted to create a bridge between my restaurant and the Olympic Village. The dishes offered to the athletes are in the same spirit as my addresses, if not completely identical! Except for the weight of course. At the same time, athletes will be able to taste my dishes in the Village, and tourists or French citizens in the restaurant - at Akrame, they will be offered à la carte or in the 7-course menu.
60% of the dishes served will be vegetarian. I didn't want any athlete to have to worry about what they can or can't eat, because they'll be from all backgrounds and all walks of life. That's my message, I want to create links. Well, it's more like hot food, because anything raw is forbidden. At the same time, it was quite obvious to me: offering tartare or oysters, in this volume (300 portions per day), in the middle of summer, is impossible. Plus, raw food is harder to digest.
© Gault et Millau
Roasted cauliflower** with sesame sauce**, orange blossom** and almond; steamed cod** with potato mousse with hazelnut butter** and Piedmont hazelnuts**; tandir chicken** - marinated in spices with mint raita sauce** (like an Indian tatziki; with cumin and chilli). These three dishes are already on the menu of my restaurants.
The chicken is at Shirvan, it's a dish that takes you on a journey. I've always wanted this restaurant to be a place of travel, an expression of myself - I feel like a citizen of the world (Akrame Benallal was born in Paris, but grew up until the age of 12 in Algeria). There will also be a mushroom croquette and a quinoa muesli with smoked yoghurt - two quinoas cooked slowly like a rice pilaf, one of which will be puffed and crispy. Each dish has between three and five flavours, no more.
On the day, there will always be two or three of us on site. My assistant chefs will alternate. For example, there will be Oscar Rainaldo, who started as a trainee in 2013 and returned in 2020.
We know that most of the products have to be French and come from a limited area...
Sodexo Live has done a great deal of sourcing! The poultry comes from Miramar, the cauliflower from Marne-la-Vallée... France is a treasure trove of magicians. What's been incredible is that the influence of the Games has introduced me to so many farmers and producers. For example, I learned that near Orléans, in the Centre region, there are people who grow quinoa. They were the ones who contacted me on Linkedin. From that discovery, I said to myself "I've got to make a dish with their products".
I think it's a very strong sign of how important knowing how to eat is in France. It's a gift for the athletes. They should have a good time and discover new tastes. A bit like us, when we discover a sport like breakdance, for example. Besides, I've always dreamt big and I like to make people dream, so it's great to serve so many people...
No, all these athletes make me dream. For me, sport is quite similar to what I do every day: it's all about the mind. It's a battle, you have to win, never give up, accept failure and know how to bounce back.
Yes, the 100 metre sprint in August! The rest will be like everyone else, on television.
I think it's a moment of joy and that we sometimes turn it into a moment of sadness. So, yes, there will be traffic problems and so on. But the Games only last three weeks and the event takes place every 100 years in France! So we have to welcome the moment with open arms, and celebrate it together. I'm a great believer in energy, and these athletes bring with them a certain conviction of success. I'm right next to the Place de la Concorde, so it's going to be complicated, but it doesn't matter... My restaurants are all still open.
