In this beautiful cookbook Pascal Barbot, one of the most reputed and internationally-acclaimed French chefs, reveals his concept of cooking in the restaurant he created with Christophe Rohat in 2000: the three-star Michelin restaurant L'Astrance. In a series of about fifty "narrative recipes" he describes how and where he found the inspiration for his recipes, how he finds his products, how he uses, prepares and cooks them. These "narrative recipes" are completed by texts by Chihiro Masui. For each menu she gives her tasting impressions that serve as an introduction for the dishes presented in the book. The products used in the recipes, magnificently photographed by Richard Haughton and often little-known in the West, are presented alongside each dish. In order to allow the home cook to recreate a bit of "haute gastronomie" at home, Pascal Barbot reveals secrets of his basic recipes in the deluxe version of the book, in a 64-page separate booklet. It includes sauces, condiments, pastries. Clients come from all over the world, reserving their tables months in advance, in order to sample the unforgettable taste experience that is offered at L'Astrance. There is no fixed menu. The experience is based on confidence in the chef Pascal Barbot who creates ten unique dishes each day. The culinary adventure can last a whole afternoon or evening: very finely crafted dishes, indefinable flavours, unexpected associations, subtly presented dishes with beautiful colours, unusual foods and condiments for European tastes - a multitude of surprising pleasures for the palate. The head waiter is always available for explaining the composition and foods in each dish, accompanied by his calm, discreet and helpful staff. AUTHOR: Pascal Barbot is the chef at the three-star Michelin restaurant L'Astrance. He has also worked in many great restaurants such as Les Saveurs in London and Troisgros in Roanne. Between 1994 and 1998 he worked his way up to become under-chef at L Arpege in Paris (3-stars). He then spent a year in Sydney where he was the chef at Ampersand before becoming the chef at Laperouse in Paris. In 2000 he finally opened his own restaurant, L Astrance, with Christophe Rohat. Christophe Rohat is in charge of the service and is the associate of Pascal Barbot at L'Astrance. Before this he was in charge of evening service at the Violon d'Ingres (2-stars) and Associate Director of Laperouse. At Pierre Gagnaire he was Head Waiter before doing the same at L'Arpege from 1995 to 1999 where he met Pascal Barbot. Chihiro Masui was born in Japan in 1964. After studying philosophy at the Sorbonne she became a translator and journalist for the Japanese and French press. She has written many articles on great French chefs such as Joel Robuchon, Pierre and Michel Troisgros, Georges Blanc and Frederic Anton. She is the author of several books including Le Pre Catelan: the Restaurant, Poissons: un art au Japon, Sushi and Kama Sutra Cooking. Richard Haughton is Irish and lives in London. He is an eclectic photographer, working with diverse personalities. He came to food photography when he discovered the world of Frederic Anton. He was the photographer for two books with Chihiro Masui (Le Pre Catelan: the Restaurant, 2008, Poissons: un art au Japon, L'Alchimie des elements: la cuisine inspire de Jean-Georges Klein and Kama Sutra Cooking. SELLING POINTS: Recipes from L'Astrance, a three-star Michelin restaurant with only 25 seats, located near Trocadero in Paris Pascal Barbot is one of the most highly-acclaimed chefs in the world. His discretion only serves to heighten interest in his work. This long-awaited book is the first time he shares his vision of food and his recipes 300 colour photographs
