Interview with Chef Michel Laurent

What inspired you to become a chef?:
My inspiration was my grandmother. Having had raised three children during WWII in Paris, she always found a way to feed her family, she was one of the first women in France to have divorced. She was a spitfire, strong determined and an amazing way to cook! At age of 15 I started my studies to be a chef. In France you start from the dish pit and work 16hrs days, 7 days a week for $100 a month. The honor in that is that I did this at a 3 star Michelin Restaurant. I learned the old way, by looking and tasting.

What do you consider the best aspect about cooking/being a chef?:
You have a great power in making someone happy. They say that a great lover is the one that pleases the partner before one self. The same way what a great chef would be. You measure your success in how much you please your client's brain and taste buds. Eating is one of the few thing in life that you use all your senses. It is a true honor for me to please my clients. I love creating and tasting. I don't smoke or do drugs, the palate is the most important tool a chef has!

Describe your specialty dish or style of cooking:
My specialty is French classic. But having lived in North America for so long that also know how to please this market.

Describe your work style, your colleagues working with you?
I recently did a job out of a very fancy club in Vancouver. It was the job that was done for the French Embassy. The people in the kitchen were amazed at the things they learned while helping me out. I made over 10 different types of bread, 16 dishes and they were floored at the amount knowledge. I would be called a horse! I work hard and for me CLEAN is number one. I was taught that the work station had to be immaculate at all times.

Describe your greatest accomplishment:
To have fullfilled my dream to become a chef. When I was 5 yrs old and was taken to dine out in Paris by my parents, they still remember when I grabbed my wine glass and went into the kitchen looked for the chef and announced that this was my dream. I made my first meal at 11 with my grandma. Like the French Council recently said to me: "Chefs with your pedigree are not being made anymore"

What is something that we wouldn’t know about you?:
That I love dancing!!! I am a mean merengue dancer! I also have a beautiful family, I am a proud husband and father of my three kids that are already cooking. My oldest son can pick flavours and smells from food.