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The Culinary Children of Christian Constant
A recent article by Rosa Jackson of Paris Bites/Paris Notes reminded me that I’ve been meaning to write a piece on Christian Constant and his culinary children for some time. I suspect the demographic of readers of Bonjour Paris are such that a few will recall a brilliant chart in Rolling Stone published in about 1967 showing how Eric Clapton, Cream and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young formed, split up, re-formed, split up, etc. Well, in the case of Constant, his geneological chart is a lot simpler to draw.
He was born in Montauban near Toulouse, and like his earlier artistic co-Montaubanian, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, after whom he obviously named his resto, Le Violin d’Ingres, he learned his art there but soon moved to Paris (a bit older than Ingres who moved at age 16) and spent time at the old Ledoyen and Ritz before moving to Les Ambassadeurs at the Crillon from 1988-1996. It was here that he became a great teacher. As someone who’s in that dodge myself, I have often puzzled over which professors turn out dozens of other professors and which ones turn out duds. Granted, in France from the 1950’s on, it was de rigeur to train with and at the greats – Fernand Point, the Troisgros, Bocuse, Mere Brazier, Pere Bise, Alain Chapel, Olivier, Vergé, etc, etc. But some of these greats had only a few inheritors of their genius; Constant has had over a dozen.
And just look at the list:
La Bourdonnais - Jean-François Rouquette
Au Camelot – Didier Varnier
Chez Michel – Thierry Breton
Le Clos des Gourmets – Arnoud Pitrois
Laurent - Alain Pégouret
L’Os a Moelle – Thierry Faucher
La Regalade, Le Comptoir – Yves Camdeborde
Le Repaire de Cartouche – Rodolphe Paquin
Le Restaurant→Le Restaurant d’Eric Frechon→Eric Frechon, Le Bristol – Eric Frechon
Le Troquet – Christian Echebest
And then there are the culinary grandchildren:
L’Ami Jean – Stephane Jego
L’Ourcine – Sylvain Daniere
L’Entredgeu - Phillipe Tredgeu,
There aren’t a lot of clinkers there.
Then, I must note the play on words – the Violin of Ingres not only refers to Constant’s artist co-Montaubanian but to a “violin d’Ingres” –
e.g., a hobby, Entredgeu is a play on the chef’s name – Tredgeu, with the entre prefix to throw you off, and Au Camelot, while located on Rue Amelot, obviously refers the lost Kingdom of Camelot, where “Don't let it be forgot, that once there was a spot, for one brief, shining moment that was known as Camelot.” So these guys have a sense of humor and history that came partially from their food father, dontcha think?
So how did this phenomenon of producing all these winning chefs happen? I can’t say I’m a big expert on Constant’s personality, style and teaching but I have noticed a few things about him over the years. First, he remembers people; their faces, their connections; he’s the type of person who nods at you even when he’s still probably struggling to remember who the heck you are and how far back you go. Second he’s a nice guy, I’ve never seen him blow up; exacting, precise, demanding perhaps, but not an infant terrible in the worst sense. And finally, I think he understands the interplay between food and show biz, between internal and external relations, between the big picture and the small details. In short, it’s my sense from twenty feet away, that he’s got his eye on everything and keeps it all in proportion. As a teacher, that’s of value. I would also guess, purely guess, mind you, that it not only doesn’t bother him when his “children” grow up, it delights him to see the talented, slightly rebellious ones go off on their own and do well. You can’t be a good teacher and force your prodigies to stay under your skirts, to mix a metaphor.
As of today, which of these children’s places do I recommend most, in addition to Papa’s ones, of course:
Chez Michel
10 rue de Belzunce, 10th (Metro : Gare du Nord)
T : 01 44 53 06 20
Closed Sunday, Monday and all of August.
About 30 € a la carte
Le Repaire de Cartouche
8 blvd des Filles du Calvaire, 11th (Metro : Filles du Calvaire)
T : 01.47.00.25.86
Closed Sundays and Mondays
Lunch menus 13 & 24 €, a la carte 35-45 €.
Le Troquet
21 Rue Francois Bonvin, 15th (Metro: Volontaires)
T; 01.45.66.89.00
Closed Sunday and Monday
Menus: 23 € lunch, 30 € dinner, 37 €. A la carte 45-55 €.
Le Violin d’Ingres
135, rue St-Dominique, 7th (Metro : Ecole Militaire)
T : 01.45.55.15.05
Closed Sundays and Mondays
Lunch menu 50, 110 € dinner, a la carte 96-100 €.
Café Constant
139, rue St-Dominique, 7th (Metro : Ecole Militaire)
T : 01 47 53 73 34
Closed Sundays
A la carte about 30 €.
Fables of Fontaine
131, rue Saint-Dominique, 7th (Metro : Ecole Militaire)
T : 01 44 18 37 55
Closed Sundays
A la carte about 40 €.
©2005 John A. Talbott
