Eight Stars, Six Hands, a Dinner... and a Connoisseur

Eight stars and six hands…

what’s with the math, you’ll ask? I’ll respond that it’s the most inspiring math I’ve ever experienced. Judge by yourself: the stars are Michelin, the hands belong to three of the most talented and renowned chefs in the world and they’ve been brought together in the kitchen of the Restaurant Au Pavillon (one of the most popular restaurants in Zurich and the culinary heart of the Baur au Lac, one of the world’s oldest luxury hotels) to cook an exquisite dinner for 65 privileged guests. Cherry on top: the person who came up with the plan and is responsible for making this happen is none other than Pawel Mowlik or Connoisseur Pawel, as he is best known among the fine dining lovers on Instagram, as in his real-life culinary explorations.

It was the end of January,

on a sunny Saturday afternoon when I arrived at the Au Pavillon. I entered a contemporary yet classic room, with an impressive flower arrangement in its centre and saw some members of the personnel quietly making final arrangements. Few seconds later, I found myself in the kitchen, in the middle of a burst of energy and joyful greetings from Pawel Mowlik and the chefs: Laurent Eperon, who was also the host, Jacob Jan Boerma, who came from Amsterdam and Juan Amador, who came from Vienna. Later I would find out that it was a premiere for the three chefs to work together (and Laurent Eperon had just met Chef Amador and Chef Boerma).

But before going into the event’s details,

I will undertake the difficult task of briefly introducing the three chefs, as they each have very impressive personal and career stories, needing much more than a few lines sketched on a blog.

Swiss Laurent Eperon is a two Michelin star and 18 Gault & Millau points awarded chef, who was appointed head of the Au Pavillon kitchen in 2009. Since then, he’s been developing his interpretation of the French contemporary cuisine while guiding himself by the principle of fresh, seasonal products that are only processed in a way that suits them best.

Juan Amador is a German of Spanish descent who quickly became one of the best chefs of the world, thanks to his avant-garde take on European cuisine. He is one of the few chefs to be awarded three Michelin stars in quick succession, having received, on top, numerous other awards. Currently, his eponym restaurant Amador is the only 3 Michelin star restaurant in Austria. Juan Amador’s cuisine would be classical French with traditional Germanic elements, mixed with Basque and Catalan flavours, exquisite technique and exceptional ingredients.

As for Jacob Jan Boerma, the Flying Dutchman (as Chefs Amador and Eperon and Pawel Mowlik call him) owns, together with his wife, sommelier Kim Veldman, the De Leest restaurant – one of the two three-Michelin star restaurants in the Netherlands. Chef Boerma got his restaurant’s first star in 2003 and the two others followed in 2007 and 2013. Jacob Jan Boerma is a perfectionist who is constantly introducing in his cuisine new ingredients, new flavours and new experiences that he acquires from his travels around the world. Thus, his dishes are characterized by freshness, lightness and intensity at the same time. I was impressed to find out that Jacob Jan Boerma and his wife recently decided to close their De Leest restaurant in order to dedicate more time to their 4 year old son and their family. They are currently working on the launch of a new concept restaurant in Amsterdam – an exciting new culinary adventure!

Last but not least: Connoisseur Pawel. You already know him as the fine dining enthousiast who travels around the globe for dining at Michelin star restaurants and is friends with all the world-renowned chefs – a modern-day Brillat-Savarin who aspires to be an “ambassador of taste”, a voice to artists of the food world. Things have evolved since our first interview for this blog, when Pawel was already aiming to transform his passion for fine-dining into his job. Pawel is now making a transition into the media industry: he is cooking an exciting and impressive media project about his passion for fine dining (more details to be revealed soon) and, in the meantime, he organizes unique gourmet events, such as the Eight Stars & Six Hands dinner.

As I was socializing with the chefs and fellow media representative guests, dishes began to come in.

Our first impulse was to thoroughly photograph each plate and capture as many details as possible of the beautiful ingredients and plating. The Chefs presented us with some of their signature dishes that were also on the 14 courses menu of the Eight Stars & Six Hands dinner.

As I am not a food critic (only a food enthusiast), I will let the photos speak for themselves.

Savoury salty macaron by Jacob Jan Boerma

Crabe, elderflower, urchin, caviar by Laurent Eperon

Iced beurre blanc, hazelnut milk, Oyster Gillardeau N°2, caviar Royal by Juan Amador

Dublin bay prawn, ginger, Thaï style, kaffir lime, apple, pumpkin by Jacob Jan Boerma

Black Périgord truffle dim sum, by Laurent Eperon

Chocolat Manjari, raspberry, black truffle, black walnut by Laurent Eperon

However, I can’t help myself from delivering some personal observations.

I must confess that it was the first time I tried two and respectively three Michelin stars dishes. At this level, chefs become true artists and every dish is an impeccable balance of flavours and textures.

I noticed that their creations also reflect chefs’ character and personality: Jacob Jan Boerma’s boundless energy and bubbly personality was reflected in his light, fresh but intense cuisine – the langoustine combined with lime, ginger, a homemade Thai curry mix, apple and mussel jus; Juan Amador seemed to be a determined yet sensitive person, with a strong character, traits revealed in his signature iced beurre blanc, oyster, hazelnut milk and royal caviar dish: strong flavours with delicate products and textures (as said above: the perfect combination of a mediterranean spirit with the german dedication); Laurent Eperon is joyful, friendly, creative (a trait extending from dishes to socks!) but a classical spirit paying considerable attention to each detail – a personality very well reflected in his dim sum with black truffle, his combination of crab with elderflower or his stunning chocolate, raspberries and Périgord truffles dessert.

I was utterly amazed how obvious chefs’ professionalism and experience was in their behaviour: apparently being very relaxed, while constantly keeping an eye on every detail. Only they know how many hours of work and sleepless nights were sacrificed in order to achieve perfection.

I will conclude by saying Chapeau bas!

to Pawel for this beautiful idea and flawless organisation. I wish him the very best in his future culinary endeavours and cannot wait to share more stories about his connoisseur journey.

Michelin star restaurants are worth your time and money – it’s a true cultural and sensorial immersion. Being a chef means, first of all, sharing emotion, passion and putting a lot of effort into providing joy and satisfaction to people so don’t hesitate to become a part of this wonderful world of haute cuisine.

Thank you for reading,

Elle de Strasbourg