Profiles

François Pasteau

François Pasteau is the founder, owner and chef at L’Epi Dupin, a restaurant that has been nestled in Paris’ 6th district since March 1995. L’Epi Dupin shocases the best each season has to offer and often uses products selected from local markets. Pasteau graduated from École Supérieure de Cuisine Française Grégoire Ferrandi, (the School of Culinary Arts) in Paris and he is now President of its Alumni Association Ferrandi Contact.

Seafood Choices spoke with Chef Pasteau about his efforts to incorporate sustainable seafood into his ever-changing menu.

François, how did you come to be a chef?

I grew up in Paris and started out in restaurants at age 16, somewhat by chance. I enjoyed good cuisine and the restaurant industry had a strong pull on me, even though I knew it involved a lot of work. I graduated in 1980 and worked for François Clerc. Then, I got the opportunity to go abroad; I spent four years in the United States, in Connecticut, where I worked at a restaurant and a catering shop. It was a fantastic experience. After that, I came back to France and worked for some of the top chefs, including Joël Robuchon, Henri Faugeron and Michel Kéréver.

What kinds of seafood do you serve in your restaurant? Have you noticed any trends in the preferences of your customers?

There are always at least one or two appetizers built around seafood and one or two main dishes with fish on the menu. I buy my products each day, always looking for distinctive materials. The line-caught pollock is a special favorite with diners. Currently, I am doing a lot of pollock, haddock, langoustine, octopus and monkfish.

How do you work with your suppliers?

For 15 years, I went to the seafood pavilion in Rungis [market] every day, myself, to pick out the products. These past two years, I have been working with a buyer. He knows how I work and what I am looking for, though, this does have some drawbacks. When you make the trip to Rungis yourself, you can choose your fish, you can ask for more information and you can see the quality of the product for yourself. I would get ideas from it and could chart out an entirely different course midway, if a particular fish tickled my fancy.

Today, patrons come more frequently with questions about the origin of our products. In turn, we also go to our suppliers with more questions than we did before. It’s a sign of the times. The more questions we restaurant owners and fish merchants ask and the more we ask the right questions, the more the suppliers, wholesalers or fishmongers will feel required to have answers to these questions.

Now that it is primarily telephone interaction, my supplier is not always able to tell me where the products come from; we are working together to improve this, but it has to be said that it is often difficult to secure information about the exact origin.

Have you noticed any changes over the course of the past few years, in terms of demand or gourmet trends, for example?

There has been a turn in the tide, so-to-speak, where cod is concerned: 20 years ago, it was a very seldom-used fish, then it became fashionable and now, everyone wants cod loin fillet. We have also seen enthusiasm emerge for salmon, which has slowed down considerably.

Moreover, prices and sales have increased significantly. People are eating more fish in restaurants because they are often afraid they will not manage to cook it at home, considering the careful attention it requires.

Do you feel that the question of resource conservation means something to professionals in your industry?

I do. Awareness is starting to grow in the hospitality and culinary schools, as well as among young chefs. This emerging awareness will raise questions and stimulate wholesalers to look more closely into each day’s catch. There needs to be a high media impact; the media have an important part to play in that area.

Do chefs have a part to play in the preservation of fishery resources?

Absolutely. Currently, there is a surge of interest in cuisine. A lot is heard about products, a return to nature, the environment, and we, as chefs, have a part to play in this area.

Chefs introduce people to new foods. If our patrons leave with their taste buds singing, they may well go home and try to cook the same fish. We have an opportunity to make little-known products more familiar to the public, and also to restore the image of species which aren’t used frequently.

A great chef can manage to make an enjoyable taste experience out of any species! Haddock is a glorious fish and our patrons are delighted! However, it only goes over so well in my restaurant because it is referred to as églefin, the term “haddock” being cast in a negative light in French. The same is true of chinchard or Atlantic horse mackerel: it is our responsibility to be creative and design a menu around “Filet of chinchard in hazelnut crust and coriander, caramelized fennel, tender-cooked leeks and dry apricots”; my front-of-house staff knows how to talk about the dishes, the people let themselves be swayed and they have scrumptious time and they really enjoy it.

There is a job to be done around each product, whether in the kitchen or in the front-of-house; each product must be presented and sold well. It is up to us to ennoble the product and make it appetizing, tender and crisp.

Are there any species you will not work with?

Absolutely. I stopped serving bluefin tuna (Thunnus thynnus) two years ago. I used to do a “surf and turf” dish with foie gras and bluefin tuna that customers really enjoyed. The very day I realized that the species was in danger, I stopped serving it. Some customers have requested that it be reinstated, but I explained to them why I was no longer featuring it, they understood.

Posted August 2010

Return to profiles page >