Claude Troisgros Opens a Blue Doorby Carole Kotkin
The Troisgros family has provided France with some of its most creative, adventurous and famous chefs. Claude Troisgros’ grandfather Jean-Baptiste created a furor in gastronomic circles when he first paired fish with red wine, four decades ago. Claude’s father is Pierre Troisgros. Pierre and his late brother Jean turned their family’s modest restaurant located across from the street from the railroad station in Roanne into the celebrated three-star Michelin restaurant Troisgros. The Troisgros brothers and their close friend and fellow chef, Paul Bocuse, revolutionized French cooking in the 1960’s by promoting la nouvelle cuisine. Nouvelle cuisine was the star of the French repertoire for a decade during which time every plate seemed to awash in buerre blanc. Pierre, 68 years old, is still cooking and son Michel is adding new energy to the third generation restaurant and hotel. Daughter, Anne Marie, is carrying on the tradition at Yves Gravelier restaurant in Bordeaux. To publicly acknowledge the Troisgros’ for putting their city on the culinary map, the city council of Roanne painted the train station salmon-pink and green in honor of Troisgros’ signature dish, salmon filet sauteed and served with a sorrel cream sauce. Claude Troisgros, born into this family’s unique kitchen, could make a beurre blanc sauce when other children were playing with blocks. At age 16, Claude took on an apprenticeship with Paul Bocuse. From there, he took positions in some of the best kitchens of Europe, including Taillevent in Paris, the Connaught in London, and Tantris in Munich. In 1979, when Claude was still in his early twenties and back in Roanne, his father walked into the kitchen and asked, “does anyone want to go to Rio?” Claude jumped at the opportunity to work for famed pastry chef Gaston Lenotre at his restaurant Pre Catelan in Rio de Janeiro. “When I first started working in Brazil, the European chefs were importing everything, most of it frozen and very expensive,” he said. “Why? There were wonderful Brazilian products in the market so I began to work with the fresh native produce and I developed a way of tropical French cooking that became my signature.” He intended to stay in Brazil for an adventuresome two-year stint, but he became captivated by Brazil’s tropical flavors and climate, and has remained there for almost twenty years. He first opened a small restaurant in Rio called Roanne located right across the street from a local open-air market. “It was an opportunity to experiment with Brazil’s tropical fruits, vegetables, quality beef, and exceptional seafood,” he fondly recalls. Word spread rapidly of Claude’s imaginative flavor combinations and pristine presentations and led to the opening of the lively and elegant eponymous restaurant, Claude Troisgros, in Rio de Janeiro. It immediately attracted the attention of the trendsetters and power brokers, as well as earning accolades from ecstatic critics, and remains one of Rio’s premier dining destinations. Restaurant Terramater, serving traditional Brazilian cooking and another Roanne in Sao Paulo followed, along with a best-selling cookbook, From the Head to the Saucepan. He also runs a prestigious catering business with a client list that includes the president of Brazil. He is very proud to have been chosen to cook for the Clinton’s on their recent Brazilian visit. In 1994, Claude’s desire for a new challenge coupled with the economic instability of the Brazilian economy, led him, along with his Brazilian wife, Marlene, and two children, to Manhattan to open the famed restaurant, C.T., which wowed New Yorkers with his intriguing flavor combinations and assured finesse. “I never wanted to be strictly French or totally tropical, but rather French with tropical touches.” The surest proof of the essentially French nature of his cooking is how well his food can be paired with wine. “America’s a country that produces wine, and a country that produces wine in general makes the greatest cuisine,” he says. “Of course, I’m a Burgundian so my personal taste is for the chardonnay and pinot noir grapes. Although some of the spicy flavors in my food go well with Alsatian wines like Gewurztraminer.” With the sale of C.T. in 1996 he returned to Brazil, but was lured to Miami Beach to consult at the Blue Door Restaurant in the Delano Hotel. A sensation from the moment it opened, The Blue Door has now entered the culinary big time with the addition of Troisgros who has been dazzling the city with his consummate skill and daring imagination. Together with Executive Chef Joseph O’Brien of China Grill Management, he blends the disciplines of French technique with the enticing flavors of Brazil and South Florida . Many of South Florida’s native products are also found in Brazil . Each of the regions of Brazil has a different history and geography upon which their methods and ingredients of cooking are based. Common to all the regions is the use of good quality and extremely fresh ingredients -- the signature of the Brazilian kitchen. “Brazilian food is not just heavy stews like feijoada and mariscada. On the east side of the country you have the most African influence, lots of coconut, coriander and palm. The north and the Amazon are more tropical, with more fruits, vegetables and fish. I incorporate all of these ingredients into my cooking, but at the heart, it’s still French cuisine,” says Troisgros.
The cuisine reflects the tropical serenity and cutting-edge style of Ian Schrager’s Delano Hotel. The decor, which in the hands of French designer Philippe Starke is reminiscent of a surreal stage set--gauzy white billowing curtains and massive columns that extend past the restaurant and out to the outdoor terrace. It was Claude’s grandfather who always insisted that “cooking should be a harmony of the treasures of the earth“. Claude’s impeccably balanced menu is a fitting tribute to the third generation of Troisgros family genius. The Blue Door -Updated 7-2-99- |
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“The new revolution in food is now occurring in the United States, not in France,” exclaims Chef Claude Troisgros. Troisgros is chef of the acclaimed Claude Troisgros in Rio de Janeiro and consultant to the Blue Door restaurant in Miami, and scion of the famed Troisgros family in Roanne, France. Surprising words from a chef born and trained in France. “In cities like Miami or New York people are far more familiar with all kinds of food—French, Thai, Chinese, Brazilian—and are inclined to try something new. In French cuisine, you will find the finest technique in the world, but the French have narrow minds when it comes to food, and refuse to do anything but French cuisine,” he continues. “The best chefs in the world are Americans—and why not? They go to France to learn,” he adds ironically. He does complain that American creativity sometimes goes to far. Claude Troisgros has been following the lead of his celebrated French culinary ancestors who refused to be trapped by tradition. 
At first glance Troisgros’ unusual creations—like pan-seared filet of Chilean Sea Bass with cashew nuts, garlic, lime, and roasted fresh hearts of palm in a brown butter sauce, or black and blue tuna encrusted with sesame seeds set atop translucent slices of daikon marinated in lime juice, ginger and sesame oil—might appear to fall in with trendy cuisine. But, everything is clearly conceived; nothing combined on impulse or just to be different. Presentations are artful but not flashy, and color comes from the natural ingredients found in the tropics. An example of his French/Brazilian fusion is a luscious taro root mousseline encased in a single jumbo “raviole” and surrounded by a silken sauce made of a reduction of cream and white truffle oil. He doesn’t shy away from butter or cream when necessary to a dish, perhaps following in the family tradition. It has been reported that his uncle, Jean Troisgros, toured the United States in the 70’s speaking only two English phrases: “I love you” and “more butter please.” Troisgros is as equally adept at cooking both seafood and meats with the same degree of finesse. Filet of beef dipped in manioc (ground cassava) flour, crusty on the outside and beautifully tender and rare on the inside, sitting on a yuca biscuit in a Cabernet wine sauce shows the Brazilian influence on his cooking.