22/01/2020

INTERVIEW: Ronan Cadorel, Executive Chef, Park Hyatt Tokyo

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For almost two years, Ronan Cadorel has been supervising with absolute talent the stoves of one of Tokyo’s most acclaimed venues. Now, as a pillar of French style gastronomy in one of the most fascinating cities in the world, Park Hyatt Tokyo’s executive chef gratifies us with his career path forged by travels, encounters, but most of all by an unconditional and growing love for the product. From the warmness and comfort of Mediterranean cuisine to the precision and subtlety of Eastern dishes, chef Cadorel once more demonstrates to what extent gastronomy is a source of openness and union among territories and cultures.


Vendom.jobs – How did you choose to become a chef?

Ronan Cadorel – I have been cooking with my family since a very young age.
This passion is like an evolving love story, with ups and downs, and on which I never gave up. As a teenager, I practiced the profession of pizza maker in Corsica, with my second family based in Piana.
That Summer, I experienced my first season. It was very hard: everyone was enjoying the holidays and the sun, while I was already discovering the difficulties of this job.
Later, I spent two years at the Lycée Louis-Antoine in Bougainville, to obtain a vocational degree in cooking.
I was happy – after several school failures, I finally had a goal in my life, which also implied earning a passport to freedom.
After my studies, I worked with Jacques Maximin in Vence, then with the Pourcel Brothers in Montpellier. In Paris, I worked at the Lasserre restaurant, alongside Jean-Louis Nomicos and Arnaud Donckel, who is now a 3-starred chef at La Pinède in Saint-Tropez.
These experiences gave me wings and encouraged me to fly to Florence, Italy, to discover the 3 Michelin starred Enoteca Pinchiorri, where I worked with Riccardo Monco, Annie Féolde and Giorgio Pinchiorri.
This was a true adventure – being active in such an environment brought me an immense joy. Italy is a musical country and I love that. You hear music everywhere: in the tomato flavours, in the dolce vita, in the coffee, in la vespa,… all with a pronounced and exacerbated taste.

Girandole

When I later returned to France, I worked successively alongside Alain Dutournier and his wife Nicole at the Trou Gascon, located 40 rue Taine, then Jean François Godiard and Jean-Charles Paquet, as well as my very good friend Raphaël Hoefferlin, who opened his own catering business in Paris.
Afterwards, the winds carried me to Toulouse, where I met Top Chef Michel Sarran, who is still a close friend. He is a true and beautiful person, for whom I have a huge respect.
A call from the United States shortened my stay in the pink city and I crossed the Atlantic Ocean short afterwards to learn from Daniel Boulud.
That experience finally made me understand who I was and how I wanted to manage my teams.
Daniel Boulud is such a charismatic character! On his side, I had to manage Feast and Fêtes together with one of my current best friends, Florian Lamelot, who now lives in Jakarta. We both travelled to New York, Montreal, the Hamptons, we explored Manhattan all over… what an unforgettable adventure it was...!
When I got back to Europe, I collaborated with Gordon Ramsay, in London first and then in Versailles, as well as with Simone Zannoni, who now works at Le George, Four Seasons, Paris.
My taste for adventure took me subsequently to Qatar, Moscow, and Nantes, where I collaborated with a major actor of this industry, Thierry Bégué. He asked me to manage one of his establishments, where I held the position of executive chef, but also director of operations.
There, I discovered 360-degree company management.
Now, 5 years after meeting Jean-François Rouquette at Park Hyatt Vendôme, I have been working for Hyatt corporation as an executive chef. I spent 3 years in Casablanca at the Hyatt Regency and in the next months, I will celebrate my 2 years of work at the Park Hyatt Tokyo in Japan.

V.J. – Who were your mentors, your “star chefs”?

R. C. – Without a doubt, Daniel Boulud thoroughly inspired me, of course. I also have to mention his whole team, Eddy Leroux, Jean-François Bruel, Fabrizio Salerni… my visit to New York City will always remain imprinted as the best experience ever in my culinary background.
I will never forget Arnaud Donckel and Jean-Louis Nomicos, the elegance, the precision, the silence of the service. Their training taught me excellence, as well as the way to select the best caviar or to invent a green salad like a 3 Michelin starred chef would. The simplest dishes are often the most difficult to create. More is less...!
Jacques Maximin was an electric shock, I discovered his strict and very hard universe, but his training was very formative for all my future experiences.
Alain Dutournier, Annie Féolde and Michel Sarran made me discover a rich and colourful cuisine.
Also, I am thankful to all the chefs I have known and met, and feel humble for the wealth of lessons I have received.

V.J. – You have worked on many continents and in numberless countries. How do all those experiences influence you, personally and professionally and, most particularly, in your current Japanese adventure?

R. C. – What I learned from all these experiences is to better accept each other’s differences. As leaders, we are the culinary conductors managing a multitude of different characters, ethnic origins, sometimes conflicting religions. Our role is to unite. All employees have good basic skills, and depending on their responsibilities, level of study and experience, they are bound to evolve, and eventually represent you.
In my view, there is no such thing as bad employees, but there are bad leaders. Our role is to support and guide teams towards excellence in the best possible way, while protecting them and their family.
In this regard, Japan and its very different culture, striving for excellence, respect and dignity taught me a lot. Facing so much sacrifice, you cannot but be humble. My adventure in this fabulous country altered my managing methods forever. You must be a visionary and guide your teams without forcing decisions.
Time is precious, but here in Japan every decision is carefully examined in a group.
I learned to be more patient and more humble: humility opens more doors than arrogance ever will.

V.J. – What is the image of French gastronomy in Japan?

R. C. – French gastronomy has a reputation that is no longer to prove around the world. Chefs like Joël Robuchon or Pierre Gagnaire are very respected. They earned French legitimacy in Japan.
Great pastry chefs all have one or more boutiques, such as Pierre Hermé or Philippe Conticini.


V.J. – What is the most challenging, but also the most rewarding part when you are at the head of the entire food offer of such a prestigious hotel?

R. C. – We are facing a lot of challenges. The main ones consist in finding a way to maintain the same level of excellence, as well as the satisfaction of our customers, on a daily basis.
We manage several restaurants, including one of the company’s most famous venues worldwide, the New York Grill, located on the 52nd floor, which offers a magical and panoramic view.
Kozue is also a very trendy, popular and respectful table that Japanese chef Kenichiro Ooe San has been managing for the last 25 years. The restaurant view on Mount Fuji is sublime.

Kozue

The French brasserie, Girandole, featuring local cuisine, is also worth discovering.
Recently, Gilles Vérot, a famous charcutier concluded a fantastic partnership with us. Today, after training our teams, we are proud to offer an excellent pâté en croûte.
The Peak Lounge is also a relaxing venue to enjoy afternoon tea and sip evening cocktails.
Finally, I have to mention the Pastry Shop and Delicatessen, where customers can simply have lunch or dinner on the go.
We also feature banquet venues for seminars or even weddings, which represent an important part of our activity.
In total and on a daily basis, I manage a brigade of 110 chefs and more than 1,000 covers per day with a high occupancy rate.


V.J. – You once said that the way you create dishes makes you a kind of “storyteller” of the product. How did you discover Japanese gastronomy and ingredients and what “story” did they tell you?

R. C. – We are the link between the producer and the consumer: therefore, it is necessary for us to travel and meet the artisans, the fishmongers, the cattle breeders who accompany us on a daily basis. If you want to create, you have to know the origin of the products. Without that, you cannot tell a story.
We travel a lot across the country, we search for and discover unique products. We work in a sustainable way, we look for MSC-ASC certified channels for sustainable fishing. I recently visited the fish market in Kyushu, in Oita prefecture, where I learned the traditional way to kill a fish, called Ikejime. This ancestral practice consists in killing the fish rather than letting it die on ice banks. To perform this practice, the Japanese use a metal rod, called tegaki, which is inserted between the eyes of the fish to neutralize its nervous system. Beforehand, the fish is placed on a tray of iced water which slows its heart rate. This process keeps the flesh fresh and intact, while enhancing its taste.

V.J. – Currently, what is your favourite ingredient or savour you like to work with?

R. C. – There is no limit to discovery. I really enjoy using dried bonito, but also kombu seaweed to make broth bases called dashi, which constitute the basis of preparations that can be declined in variations based on mushrooms, dashi shiitakes, or on dried sardines, niboshi dashi. By the way, skipjack flakes, called katsuobushi, is a source of umami taste.

V.J. – A lot of French chefs are involved in educational projects and events (La Semaine du Goût for instance). Are you interested in this kind of actions? What is your opinion about them and, as an important chef, what would you like to pass on to younger generations?

R. C. – Each year, I participate in the "La Semaine du goût", initiated by Mr Alain Ducasse. I take a lot of pleasure in joining this event as we have the duty to promote our profession and our love for French cuisine. We are generous craftsmen who share their know-how, but also and above all use local products from agriculture or sustainable fishing. Our main role is to educate and be an example for future generations. What matters is buying and consuming the right way. We will be lacking resources in the future, we must find alternatives now to take care of our natural resources.

New York Bar

V.J. – What dish would describe you best?

R. C. – A dish that would describe me is the arrabbiata pasta, a generous family dish, with red tomato sauce, because I have a strong character and personality, and, as most chefs, I can also be quite spicy. It is also an olive oil symbol for south and sun: it shows my love for the Mediterranean sea and coast, even if I am of Breton origin. And I promise to choose a buckwheat crêpe afterwards.

Park Hyatt Tokyo 5*

 3-7-1-2, Nishishinjuku,

Tokyo 163-1055, Japan

+81 3-5322-1234

Website

 

(Photo credit: Park Hyatt Tokyo/Ronan Cadorel Facebook)

 

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