Extract from the book : « Lyon, révolutions tranquilles » by Alice Géraud

Saint Gastronomy Revisited.

He didn’t even ask the ‘pope’ for his blessing when he set up in Lyon. “ Although they told me that it was obligatory ; when you arrive in Lyons, you go and see Paul Bocuse. That’s it. That’s how it’s done: following tradition”. Nicolas Le Bec, the young prodigy of the kitchen does not have it in him to bow and scrape. Too independent. Too ambitious. Too proud. He is the one who dared to snub the old Bocuse, as if to let everyone know that he considered Lyon as henceforth open to the expression of new culinary talent. And among those talents, his own. The statue of the Commander, with crossed arms and wearing his chef’s hat, atop the three Michelin stars his restaurant at Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or has held for over thirty years, does not impress him. “ I’ve always heard it said, in my career as a chef, that Lyon was the French capital of gastronomy. I’ve always known this fact but had no real idea to what this reality corresponded. When I arrived here, I had the overwhelming sentiment that the town had fallen asleep on its laurels, that the image was out-dated.” But with a impish look, he adds, “But that is no longer the case today : the younger chefs have shaken up cuisine in Lyon.”

Nicolas Le Bec set up in 2000 at the Cour des Loges in the Old Town. The establishment was one of the most beautiful hotels of the town, but had no restaurant worthy of the surroundings. Nicolas Le Bec was given the task of creating the dining experience – from scratch. Two years later, the restaurant at the Cour des Loges was awarded 18/20 in the Gault & Millau Restaurant Guide and earned Le Bec the title of ‘Best Chef of the Year’. The following year, it was awarded its first Michelin star. Nicolas Le Bec was then only just thirty and with a desire to succeed as big as his talent, a talent recognised unanimously by all the gastronomic critics.

In the autumn of 2003, the management of this prestigious establishment decided to dispense with his services ; to let go the Chef who seemed to have the power to fill every seat in the restaurant and fill the restaurant pages of the press with one wave of his (magic) wood spoon. The surprising explanation proffered by the management : Le Bec’s restaurant was beginning to cast too much of a shadow over the prestigious hotel. Every seat taken, every evening. Reservation books filled months in advance… Le Bec had made a name for himself in Lyon, the local clientele jostled for places at his tables and left little space for the hotel guests. Today the Chef can smile at this sudden separation, that finally was not so very painful. “It allowed me to open my own restaurant : for a Chef, it is the greatest challenge there is.” Located in the heart of the Presqu’île, Le Bec’s restaurant has become the place to be, in less time than it takes to sear a steak. His faithful clientele from ‘Cour des Loges’ have followed him as have many others.

“I can’t hide a certain pride in attracting the people of Lyon to my restaurant as I thought that it would be more difficult than it was. As soon as I arrived, I discovered a very bourgeois mentality. Before giving anyone your confidence you listen to what is said, you taste … You don’t spend your money just anywhere. I understood that before I could conquer an international clientele, I needed to win over the locals. It had to be so. And I believe that I’ve succeeded.”

Nicolas Le Bec has in his words and expressions a discourse that is resolutely that of a company director. Not for him the cheeky humour of the rustic landlord. Not his world. He prefers to talk turnover, investments, profitability, business and communication. He says with a smile, “my business,” “my company” and “my employees.” There are no dollar signs in his eyes, but a fascination for what makes a good business. “I have no particular love of money and anyway, I wouldn’t have the time to spend it. On the other hand, tell me that I’m going to be able to invest in my own company, now that, that motivates me.” He like the idea that nothing can ever be taken for granted. “Stress keeps me awake. Taking risks, provocation, and competition all keep me on my toes.”

When Le Bec talks of the ‘soul of Lyon’ he highlights the labour of this town whose prosperity has grown from enterprising industries. He mentions the ‘Olympique Lyonnais’ football team. He feels at home in a town where generations of companies are in the throes of change. “There is precision in the creativity here,” he says admiringly. This Breton by birth is close to becoming an urban patriot. “It always does something to me when a colleague from Lyon earns a Michelin star. It’s one up on the Parisians” he retorts, with the air of a kid relating the score at half-time.

Nicolas Le Bec sometimes has the authoritative tone of the Chef in his kitchen. “But less so than before”, he admits. “For a long time I though that cuisine, great cuisine, resulted from the rigour with which the Chef ran his kitchen. It’s what I believed when I started out in this profession.” His beginnings as a Chef, at the age of twenty-two, obliged him to follow this ‘tough’ school of management. “I was a youngster. There were guys in the kitchen as old as my father. I had to learn to be authoritative ; I had no choice.” An authority he drew from his quest for knowledge. “Learn, learn, learn.” . When his long days give him a few moments of relaxation, Le Bec likes to read … specialist magazines and manuals, for cooking, decoration or law.

Today, in the restaurant that bears his name in the ‘Rue Grolée’, Nicolas Le Bec is happy to see his employees sing the praises of the restaurant as if it were their own. For the opening, he wanted to control everything. The kitchens and the cuisine, well that was obvious. But he also needed to hold the reins of every other detail, the decoration, staff recruitment, the purchasing orders, the bookings … “ I look after everything, I get involved. I can’t just step back, even if I can now relax a little, delegate, let the members of the team take responsibility for things …” So, in spite of his obsessive need for control, Nicolas Le Bec does try to take a back seat. He would like to become invisible. Which explains why, instead of the traditional Chef’s whites, he prefers a rather more austere black jacket. “I want to be able to walk through my restaurant, among the tables and my clients, without being instantly identified as the Head Chef.” Anonymity, as a means of checking that everything is as it should be, that the machine is running smoothly, is for Le Bec another way of being ‘at his post’ or rather ‘at all his posts’ as he puts it. “It’s maybe a question of generation, but the image of the self-satisfied Chef, acting out a role as he goes from table to table is not for me.” Tease him a little and Nicolas Le Bec will agree that his choice of black is his way of underlining his singularity. Moreover, now that other young chefs have taken to wearing black, he is considering returning to the traditional white.

In spite of his young age, he is already nostalgic for the legacy he will leave. Modest artist of the hot stove, he does not speak of his creations or the gustative emotions he has fostered. He prefers to don his managerial cap and says without emotion : “I need my company to survive.” At such moments, one no longer listens to him, but dreams of his puréed potatoes. Yes, his potatoes with butter, fresh cream and a hint of olive oil. This simple garnish that can make one forget the more sophisticated dishes that this mouthful of pure bliss is supposed only to accompany.