The 15,000 athletes at the Olympics, which kick off in France in July, won’t be enjoying french fries. Yes, you read that right.
There won’t be foie gras at what’s billed as the world’s largest restaurant, a 700-foot-long former power plant in the heart of the Olympic Village, but there will be plenty of vegetarian hot dogs and quinoa granola.
Stroll through the so-called Nave, a light-filled vaulted space where some 45,000 meals will be served 24/7 throughout the Olympic and Paralympic Games, to the praise of chefs Stéphane Chicheri and Charles Guilloy. Vegan shawarma, za’ata spiced sweet potatoes with hummus, cabbage pickles, beetroot falafel and smoked paprika roasted aubergine.
It’s a far cry from the classic French cuisine that AJ Liebling once described, with its delicate sauces and “enough melted butter to clot”.
But these are the 21st century Olympics on a warming planet. Carbon print beats cassoulet. Plant-based protein is key; of course, athletes must compete in a country with thousands of cuisines that are off-limits to their strict nutritionists.
“Because deep fryers are a fire hazard, French fries are too risky,” Mr. Gilroy explained. “Don’t eat foie gras because everyone is concerned about the welfare of the animals; don’t eat avocados because they are imported from far away and use a lot of water.”
So where would these eco-games be without French fries?
“Don’t worry; we’ll order French cheese, veal pancakes with light sauce and, of course, French bread,” Mr. Chicheri said with a smile. “Athletes can even learn how to make bread from a master baker.”
The Olympic Village restaurant in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, will offer around 500 different dishes. The building itself is a tribute to environmental awareness: a nearly century-old wrought-iron skeleton power plant that was transformed over the past year into a massive restaurant and a former film studio.
The Olympic Village restaurant will open as the government’s global campaign to boost the influence and appeal of French cuisine gathers pace. Some 15 million visitors are expected to watch the Olympics, 2 million of them foreigners, and France itself will also make an appearance, particularly Paris, posing a challenge for how to inspire traditional culinary culture.
This is a critical moment for French gastronomy, whose pedigree is undisputed but whose image has waned. Nowadays, how many people “like” beef bourguignon beyond ceviche, tapas or a chef-paired dinner?
“We are a country with a gastronomic tradition that goes back hundreds of years, but the fact is that if you have talent and you don’t cultivate it, it will disappear,” Tourism Minister Olivia Grégoire said in an interview time indicates.
She visited New York this month to promote a new multimillion-dollar program to introduce young chefs and innovative French cuisine to places including South Korea, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “Food is France’s soft power,” Ms. Grégoire said. “It’s also hard-earned money.”
The French restaurant industry employs more than 800,000 people, and the gastronomy industry, including wine and spirits, generates more than $55 billion in revenue annually.
In few countries the ritual of gathering around a table is equally important. Fewer still take such strong pride in the various products of “terroir” – the land with its own soil and climate, from the Alps to the Atlantic, from Normandy to the Mediterranean.
“The best gastronomy is in our DNA; it is a reference for all students of haute cuisine,” said Alain Ducasse, the head of state chef chosen for the opening dinner of the Olympic Games on July 26. “
“But there is a new international challenge and we have been slow to engage in it,” he said. “Talent is everywhere. We need to be soberly aware of this.
With 34 restaurants and 18 Michelin stars in Europe, Asia and the United States, Mr. Ducasse’s prowess cannot be underestimated, and other French chefs such as Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Daniel Boulud have also successfully made the world their market.
But while French cuisine has changed – adding fusion elements to age-old dishes, giving birth to ‘néobistrot’ and introducing ‘lesharing’ as a shockingly novel way of eating – its image has barely remained Change.
Against this backdrop, the Olympic Village repertoire could prove to be a major game-changer. There will be six “grab and go” restaurants offering Asian cuisine, African Caribbean cuisine, vegetarian shawarma, burgers (meat, vegetarian or a combination of both), Middle Eastern cuisine and halal cuisine. Kosher meals will also be available on demand.
Bravas potatoes are probably the closest thing to French fries.
Two full-fledged French restaurants are planned, but they won’t be serving classic dishes such as steak tartare, blood sausage or chutney. Of course, wine is off-limits because, ultimately, the purpose of this 46,000-square-foot, 3,623-seat mall is to prepare athletes for peak performance.
Another point is to emphasize that France takes its environmental responsibilities seriously.
French Olympic authorities have banned the use of disposable cutlery and plates. They don’t do away with trash cans in the kitchen like some restaurants in Paris, but they do require a zero-waste culture. Approximately 80% of the ingredients are sourced from France, with 25% sourced within 155 miles of Paris. Halving the carbon footprint of the Tokyo or London Olympics is the goal.
The French company that organizes this huge catering enterprise is Sodexo Live, a division of Sodexo, which employs 420,000 people in food service and facilities management worldwide. Sodexo Live, which has staged 15 Super Cup matches and 36 Roland Garros tennis tournaments in France, knows its business, but the scale of this challenge is unique.
“We are recruiting 6,000 people. Our goal is to make everyone feel at home and we combine the nutrition athletes need with the joy of food,” Sodexo Live CEO Nathalie Bellon-Szabo said in an interview.
To do this, we selected three acclaimed chefs, each of whom will be in the Olympic Village a few days a week and prepare creative dishes that France wants the world to better understand.
They are Alexandre Mazzia, who grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo and owns a Michelin three-star restaurant in Marseille with a strong African influence; Akrame Benallal, who grew up in Algeria and runs Restaurant Akrame, a Parisian restaurant that received one star and offers some amazing flavor combinations such as crab with gray shrimp and coffee; and French-born Amandine Chaignot, whose Café de Luce serves some of the capital’s most delicious frog legs.
“French cuisine is liberating itself. It has realized that it needs to change,” said Mr. Mazzia, 47. “For me, French cuisine is now multicultural, with different roots and spices, lighter, combined with the skills we have to retain.”
Benalal, 42, calls himself an “architect of taste”, always sketching out how new dishes will be presented because he believes “we eat first with our eyes”. His red and white quinoa granola, topped with parmesan cheese, a bit of mascarpone and some smoked yogurt, is his quintessential creation and has given him a wide following.
“French food is sometimes considered boring,” he said. “It’s not boring. It’s unique. My dining room is a cabinet of curiosity and that’s what I will bring to the Olympics.”
As for Ms. Chaignot, 45, she prepared a poached egg croissant with artichoke cream, goat cheese and truffles to take with her in the Olympic Village. Another creation was a chicken dish with langoustines.
Even in the ever-changing culinary world, there are some things that remain constant. I asked her what defines French cuisine today?
“Cream is France,” she said. “And France is the butter.”
