Akrame Benallal is a powerful chef who cultivates a positive attitude! In his restaurant on rue Tronchet, the chef welcomes us with ease and shares his inspirations, values and projects with us… A positive, communicative attitude!
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What does Paris represent in your career as a chef?
For me, Paris is a simply magical city, inspiring and urban, an open-air museum. It is a city that is strong in terms of positive energy. She teaches you to push yourself up and fight for what is right to be excellent both in luxury and in gastronomy, which is my domain.
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What are your sources of inspiration?
My sources of inspiration are everywhere! You just have to have your eyes wide open on the world, on art as much as on the weather, the climate and happiness. It's all part of my sources of inspiration. You have to stay awake all the time and at all times.
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What values do you associate with your job?
When you're an entrepreneur, you obviously have ethical values, values of combativeness. It's like being in a ring and fighting. But you also have to know accept failure. Not as something you missed, because if you don't try anything, you don't know. It's necessary know how to take risks and especially have human values. In my job, it's respect for teams. It's'be a leadership, that is very important. You take teams with you in your dreams and in what you want to accomplish.
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What do you think of vegan, gluten-free, etc. modes?
I would say it's today's world and you have to know how to adapt. However, in this discourse, we must also consider country kitchen. We are the guarantors of good products. All that is part of the speeches that we must have with this vegan fashion et gluten free. People have been in this mode for fear of consuming bad products. But we must remember that in France, we have an extraordinary land which is generous. We havea magnificent land and finally it's a decoy to believe that we don't eat good products in France. Perhaps abroad, but in France, you just have to go to the market, see the market gardeners, the small producers to have the best!
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Between sweet and salty, your heart swings?
Before I was very sweet, now I'm more salty. Knowing that I have made a lot of pastries, many of my friends are pastry chefs, I love the pastry ! I believe that a cook should have thesoul of a pastry chef but it's true that now, with age… I'm saltier!
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A little unmentionable (culinary) pleasure?
The candy, I love it… It's my guilty pleasure!
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Current projects?
We opened Shirvan au Mandarin Oriental in Marrakech and we will also open at Mandarin Oriental in Doha in Qatar, in May.
Learn more about chef's kitchen.
