by Aude Camus
Remember this new series of Michelin Star Chefs of Hong Kong interviews I started recently? (You can find the first interview featuring Guillaume Galliot, Chef de Cuisine at Caprice here). Well, today is the second round and I am embarking on the Star Ferry and crossing the Victoria Harbour for this one. Heading straight to Epure (1 Michelin star since 2016) to meet Nicolas Boutin.
Epure … one of the first fine dining restaurant (it didn’t have a Michelin star yet in 2015) I’ve visited when moving to Hong Kong. Been back maybe 1 or 2 times since then but only for lunch outside on the terrace or for private events so thought it was about time to refresh my memory and treat myself to a very yummy interview.
I met Nicolas on a weekday morning, right before the lunch time shift and getting to know more about his background from French Michelin Star restaurants in the 80’s and 90’s to Hong Kong with stops in Ireland, The Grenadines and Bora Bora, was quite inspiring. What a long way to go for the little boy from Poitiers (West-Centre of France) who started his career as an apprentice butcher only because he didn’t really know what else to do. Last thing he told me at the end of our 2h-long discussion was: “you can’t post this interview yet. You have to come back and taste again my cuisine to refresh your memory because in order to know me properly and write about me you need to know and understand my cuisine.”. The kind of thing you don’t have to tell me twice! So back I was, just a few days later, taking my job very seriously (what?) and enjoying a Michelin star lunch.
Hey Nicolas. Thanks so much for meeting me today. Can you tell me a bit more about you? Your background, your story? How did you end-up here as the Executive Chef of Epure?
Hope you are not in rush! We will have to go quite back in time. School was definitely not my thing, I couldn’t stand having to seat and learn things all day. All I wanted was to go back home as quickly as possible to watch cartoons. It was ok at primary school, but it started to be really hard when I started secondary school.
But it wasn’t like I could drop out school and do nothing, so I started working for a butcher whom my father knew and did 2 years with him before starting my culinary apprenticeship.
Did you like it?
Not at all! It was a nightmare. I mean, it wasn’t an easy job and the boss was very old-school style boss. But I did it, I felt like I couldn’t drop out another thing.
After those 2 years, I want for 2 years culinary apprenticeship. It was slightly better but nothing fantastic either. I didn’t really feel like I was going anywhere in life, yet I guess I wasn’t too bad since I ended-up major of my promotion and also made it to the top 2 at a culinary competition during my first year.
I then started working at Poitiers at Le Maxime, a small but slightly fancy restaurant with a quite interesting boss. Didn’t stayed there for very long as it was time for me to do my national military service (editor’s note: which was mandatory back then) but the boss liked me and once I was back having done my national duties, he decided to help me get in a Michelin Star restaurant like I wanted. He wasn’t the kind to be afraid of anything, so he just took his phone and started contacting at people to recommend me. One of the first person he reached out to was Michel Troisgros (editor’s note: from 3 Michelin Star restaurant Troisgros) who agreed to hire me but not before I trained for an additional 2 years. It really was something big for me to have Michel Troisgros words that he would hire me in a few months!
And thanks to my former boss again, I started with Chef Jacques Lameloise (editor’s note: 3 Michelin Star Chef) in Burgundy. I am not going to lie, it wasn’t easy joining a Michelin Star restaurant. It was a tough world, and we were in Burgundy not even in a big city. I can’t imagine how it would have been in Paris. It took a bit of time for me to feel comfortable and fit in the team, but I think I did manage pretty well starting as a Commis de Cuisine and making my way to the Chef de Partie position in 1.5 years.
In the meantime, first day at Troisgroshad been pushed back and I still had a year to go before joining them. I thought it would be a good idea not too stick to one maison and make the most of this extra-time to discover another place, so I moved to Toulouse and went to work for chef Dominique Toulousy in his 2 Michelin Star restaurant Les Jardins de l’Opéra. This place will always be very special to me because it’s where I met my very good friend Michel Portos (editor’s note: today a Michelin Star Chef). 25 years of friendship, that’s something!
After a year there, it was finally time for me to start at Troisgros. I had to start back from the very bottom as a Commis de Cuisine but I was so proud being there, I would have been happy doing the dishwashing if they’ve had asked me!
I can’t forget my first day with them. They had given me the wrong date and I started 2 days before the rest of the team (editor’s note: restaurant was closed every year during a few months). I walked in the kitchen and Pierre Troisgros and Michel Troisgros were there, shooting for tv and, because I was there, I ended up shooting too.
I did a month as Commis de Cuisine in charge of cold fishes, then 3 to 4 months as Chef de Partie and then moved to hot starters and hot fishes which was quite a big move in a short period of time. A year after I started with them, the Second de Cuisine was leaving, and they wanted me to take-over the position. My first reply? No! Back then, there was no Chef de Cuisine which meant that Second de Cuisine was right under Michel Troisgros. I was only 24, everything had been going so quickly in my life, I felt like I wasn’t ready for such a challenge. But they asked me a few times and I ended-up agreeing to take the position for only a few months before seasonal closing. Those were some quite exciting months! I’ve been lucky to travel and do some cooking shows in the US and in Canada … what a big deal for a little guy from Poitiers!
In February, came the seasonal closing and I decided to leave and go and see something else. Guess who took over my role? My friend Michel Portos. As for me, I went to work in Tours for 2 Michelin Star Chef Jean Bardet. Not my best memory! It wasn’t easy moving from somewhere perfectly organized like Troisgrosto this. I felt like I was giving, giving but wasn’t receiving anything. I had to leave. I did a few months in the South of France during summer and it hit me: I had seen enough, I knew what was a Michelin star restaurant and it was time for me to train on something else. I wanted to learn English and the only way to do so was by going abroad. I was looking for somewhere where to really settled, wasn’t too excited by the UK and Ireland was quite booming at the time so here I was, moving to Dublin. A friend of mine helped me found a job in a small French restaurant. It wasn’t much about the cuisine, we were only 4 and it was very casual, more pub style, but I didn’t care because my focus was really to learn English. I spent 3 years there. I have no idea how actually! Then, we opened a shop with a friend, importing gourmet products from France. It was an interesting experience thanks to which I learnt some management and customer relationship skills.
After 6 years in Ireland, I felt like it was time for me to be back in the kitchen. In the meantime, my friend Michel Portos had opened his first restaurant and had received his first Michelin Star and he was in the process of taking over the ownership of Le Saint-James, a restaurant in Bordeaux. I joined him in 2002 and spent 2 years working as his right-hand man. Loved it!
My next move, in The Grenadines thanks to my friend Richard Ekkebus (editor’s note: today Chef of Amber in Hong Kong), was motivated by my wish to train myself on management stuffs. Richard contacted me again a year after that to ask me to help him opening the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. I spent 2 years in Hong Kong and then moved to Boston where I was Executive Chef for the first time ever. But it wasn’t an easy experience working in this hotel and I was happy to move to the Maldives working for underwater restaurant Ithaabefore joining the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. I loved the island life but didn’t enjoy working for hotel groups that much.
I had a great time in Hong Kong a few years before and wanted to be back. This is when I had the opportunity to join Gourmet Dining Groupas Executive Chef. The group had bought Dalloyau brand for Hong Kong, so the plan really was to work on this brand. We hadn’t really thought about launching a restaurant but the idea of Epure came quite naturally. From the very first days of the restaurant the idea was to serve French cuisine but with a modern and fresh twist. It’s very trendy to put a lot of ingredients in a plate but I’d rather like to work with only 2 or 3 ingredients for people to be able to remember what they’ve been eating.
The first dishes I’ve been working on were the mushroom soup, which I had first discovered many years before when working at Troisgros, and the Vol-au-Vent. Two very traditional dishes which I wanted to refresh and make more modern.
My philosophy is to try and understand the products. Where do they come from? It’s really important for me to know the importers and the suppliers I’m working with.
Is a Michelin star something you’ve always been dreaming of?
Not really. I started my career in Michelin star restaurants yes but it was so long ago and back then I was so young. And this was behind me. I had them moved to Ireland and have been living the island life and my Michelin Star days were quite far behind. I had no idea where life would take me. Plus, like I was telling you when I moved back to Hong Kong it wasn’t, at first, to start a fine-dining restaurant.
I was happy to receive this recognition but to be honest I was mainly happy for the team. In 2014 and 2015 the Michelin guide had already invited me to the ceremony but both times I went and didn’t receive anything. So, when they invited me again in 2016, I wasn’t really expecting anything either. I’ve heard that they call you before the ceremony to tell you you are going to receive your first star, but I didn’t receive any phone call. It’s true I was invited to a photo shooting few days before the ceremony, but I was like “careful, don’t get too excited because it doesn’t mean anything, remember the past two years”.
The Michelin Star didn’t really make a difference in terms of business because we had been open for 2 years and a half and had already acquire a kind of recognition. People were talking about us before the Michelin Star.
What’s next then?
Keeping on tickling the taste buds of people trying my cuisine and having them feel emotions while eating.
Remember this new series of Michelin Star Chefs of Hong Kong interviews I started recently? (You can find the first interview featuring Guillaume Galliot, Chef de Cuisine at Caprice here). Well, today is the second round and I am embarking on the Star Ferry and crossing the Victoria Harbour for this one. Heading straight to Epure (1 Michelin star since 2016) to meet Nicolas Boutin.
Epure … one of the first fine dining restaurant (it didn’t have a Michelin star yet in 2015) I’ve visited when moving to Hong Kong. Been back maybe 1 or 2 times since then but only for lunch outside on the terrace or for private events so thought it was about time to refresh my memory and treat myself to a very yummy interview.
I met Nicolas on a weekday morning, right before the lunch time shift and getting to know more about his background from French Michelin Star restaurants in the 80’s and 90’s to Hong Kong with stops in Ireland, The Grenadines and Bora Bora, was quite inspiring. What a long way to go for the little boy from Poitiers (West-Centre of France) who started his career as an apprentice butcher only because he didn’t really know what else to do. Last thing he told me at the end of our 2h-long discussion was: “you can’t post this interview yet. You have to come back and taste again my cuisine to refresh your memory because in order to know me properly and write about me you need to know and understand my cuisine.”. The kind of thing you don’t have to tell me twice! So back I was, just a few days later, taking my job very seriously (what?) and enjoying a Michelin star lunch.
Hey Nicolas. Thanks so much for meeting me today. Can you tell me a bit more about you? Your background, your story? How did you end-up here as the Executive Chef of Epure?
Hope you are not in rush! We will have to go quite back in time. School was definitely not my thing, I couldn’t stand having to seat and learn things all day. All I wanted was to go back home as quickly as possible to watch cartoons. It was ok at primary school, but it started to be really hard when I started secondary school.
But it wasn’t like I could drop out school and do nothing, so I started working for a butcher whom my father knew and did 2 years with him before starting my culinary apprenticeship.
Did you like it?
Not at all! It was a nightmare. I mean, it wasn’t an easy job and the boss was very old-school style boss. But I did it, I felt like I couldn’t drop out another thing.
After those 2 years, I want for 2 years culinary apprenticeship. It was slightly better but nothing fantastic either. I didn’t really feel like I was going anywhere in life, yet I guess I wasn’t too bad since I ended-up major of my promotion and also made it to the top 2 at a culinary competition during my first year.
I then started working at Poitiers at Le Maxime, a small but slightly fancy restaurant with a quite interesting boss. Didn’t stayed there for very long as it was time for me to do my national military service (editor’s note: which was mandatory back then) but the boss liked me and once I was back having done my national duties, he decided to help me get in a Michelin Star restaurant like I wanted. He wasn’t the kind to be afraid of anything, so he just took his phone and started contacting at people to recommend me. One of the first person he reached out to was Michel Troisgros (editor’s note: from 3 Michelin Star restaurant Troisgros) who agreed to hire me but not before I trained for an additional 2 years. It really was something big for me to have Michel Troisgros words that he would hire me in a few months!
And thanks to my former boss again, I started with Chef Jacques Lameloise (editor’s note: 3 Michelin Star Chef) in Burgundy. I am not going to lie, it wasn’t easy joining a Michelin Star restaurant. It was a tough world, and we were in Burgundy not even in a big city. I can’t imagine how it would have been in Paris. It took a bit of time for me to feel comfortable and fit in the team, but I think I did manage pretty well starting as a Commis de Cuisine and making my way to the Chef de Partie position in 1.5 years.
In the meantime, first day at Troisgroshad been pushed back and I still had a year to go before joining them. I thought it would be a good idea not too stick to one maison and make the most of this extra-time to discover another place, so I moved to Toulouse and went to work for chef Dominique Toulousy in his 2 Michelin Star restaurant Les Jardins de l’Opéra. This place will always be very special to me because it’s where I met my very good friend Michel Portos (editor’s note: today a Michelin Star Chef). 25 years of friendship, that’s something!
After a year there, it was finally time for me to start at Troisgros. I had to start back from the very bottom as a Commis de Cuisine but I was so proud being there, I would have been happy doing the dishwashing if they’ve had asked me!
I can’t forget my first day with them. They had given me the wrong date and I started 2 days before the rest of the team (editor’s note: restaurant was closed every year during a few months). I walked in the kitchen and Pierre Troisgros and Michel Troisgros were there, shooting for tv and, because I was there, I ended up shooting too.
I did a month as Commis de Cuisine in charge of cold fishes, then 3 to 4 months as Chef de Partie and then moved to hot starters and hot fishes which was quite a big move in a short period of time. A year after I started with them, the Second de Cuisine was leaving, and they wanted me to take-over the position. My first reply? No! Back then, there was no Chef de Cuisine which meant that Second de Cuisine was right under Michel Troisgros. I was only 24, everything had been going so quickly in my life, I felt like I wasn’t ready for such a challenge. But they asked me a few times and I ended-up agreeing to take the position for only a few months before seasonal closing. Those were some quite exciting months! I’ve been lucky to travel and do some cooking shows in the US and in Canada … what a big deal for a little guy from Poitiers!
In February, came the seasonal closing and I decided to leave and go and see something else. Guess who took over my role? My friend Michel Portos. As for me, I went to work in Tours for 2 Michelin Star Chef Jean Bardet. Not my best memory! It wasn’t easy moving from somewhere perfectly organized like Troisgrosto this. I felt like I was giving, giving but wasn’t receiving anything. I had to leave. I did a few months in the South of France during summer and it hit me: I had seen enough, I knew what was a Michelin star restaurant and it was time for me to train on something else. I wanted to learn English and the only way to do so was by going abroad. I was looking for somewhere where to really settled, wasn’t too excited by the UK and Ireland was quite booming at the time so here I was, moving to Dublin. A friend of mine helped me found a job in a small French restaurant. It wasn’t much about the cuisine, we were only 4 and it was very casual, more pub style, but I didn’t care because my focus was really to learn English. I spent 3 years there. I have no idea how actually! Then, we opened a shop with a friend, importing gourmet products from France. It was an interesting experience thanks to which I learnt some management and customer relationship skills.
After 6 years in Ireland, I felt like it was time for me to be back in the kitchen. In the meantime, my friend Michel Portos had opened his first restaurant and had received his first Michelin Star and he was in the process of taking over the ownership of Le Saint-James, a restaurant in Bordeaux. I joined him in 2002 and spent 2 years working as his right-hand man. Loved it!
My next move, in The Grenadines thanks to my friend Richard Ekkebus (editor’s note: today Chef of Amber in Hong Kong), was motivated by my wish to train myself on management stuffs. Richard contacted me again a year after that to ask me to help him opening the Landmark Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong. I spent 2 years in Hong Kong and then moved to Boston where I was Executive Chef for the first time ever. But it wasn’t an easy experience working in this hotel and I was happy to move to the Maldives working for underwater restaurant Ithaabefore joining the Four Seasons in Bora Bora. I loved the island life but didn’t enjoy working for hotel groups that much.
I had a great time in Hong Kong a few years before and wanted to be back. This is when I had the opportunity to join Gourmet Dining Groupas Executive Chef. The group had bought Dalloyau brand for Hong Kong, so the plan really was to work on this brand. We hadn’t really thought about launching a restaurant but the idea of Epure came quite naturally. From the very first days of the restaurant the idea was to serve French cuisine but with a modern and fresh twist. It’s very trendy to put a lot of ingredients in a plate but I’d rather like to work with only 2 or 3 ingredients for people to be able to remember what they’ve been eating.
The first dishes I’ve been working on were the mushroom soup, which I had first discovered many years before when working at Troisgros, and the Vol-au-Vent. Two very traditional dishes which I wanted to refresh and make more modern.
My philosophy is to try and understand the products. Where do they come from? It’s really important for me to know the importers and the suppliers I’m working with.
Is a Michelin star something you’ve always been dreaming of?
Not really. I started my career in Michelin star restaurants yes but it was so long ago and back then I was so young. And this was behind me. I had them moved to Ireland and have been living the island life and my Michelin Star days were quite far behind. I had no idea where life would take me. Plus, like I was telling you when I moved back to Hong Kong it wasn’t, at first, to start a fine-dining restaurant.
I was happy to receive this recognition but to be honest I was mainly happy for the team. In 2014 and 2015 the Michelin guide had already invited me to the ceremony but both times I went and didn’t receive anything. So, when they invited me again in 2016, I wasn’t really expecting anything either. I’ve heard that they call you before the ceremony to tell you you are going to receive your first star, but I didn’t receive any phone call. It’s true I was invited to a photo shooting few days before the ceremony, but I was like “careful, don’t get too excited because it doesn’t mean anything, remember the past two years”.
The Michelin Star didn’t really make a difference in terms of business because we had been open for 2 years and a half and had already acquire a kind of recognition. People were talking about us before the Michelin Star.
What’s next then?
Keeping on tickling the taste buds of people trying my cuisine and having them feel emotions while eating.
