From this oven to another
His career started at the tender age of 5 from when he could reach Father’s professional oven. A known chef in central France, Jean-Pierre Tauvron left Jérôme with more than just an oven, but fun and passion as well as discipline in the workplace.
At 16, after declining to take over his father’s restaurant, Jérôme decided to enhance his knowledge and skills through working for multiple Michelin-starred restaurants in France with the pioneers in ‘nouvelle cuisine’ like Michel Guérard and Pierre Gagnaire and the legendary Alain Ducasse.
When Jérôme worked in the pastry station at the Les prés d’Eugénie, he was the youngest and skinniest CDP to have ever stepped into Michel Guérard’s kitchen and once nearly burned his master’s nose during a busy service. He was rushing out a just-baked soufflé to be served within seconds, as Michel stood in his way whilst talking to the pastry chef. With both hands occupied coupled by the noisy environment, Jérôme pushed Michel away by placing the soufflé right under his nose. Surprisingly, Michel did not blame Jérôme at all. ‘This kid has a temper,’ he exclaimed.
About Jérôme
What it takes to be L’étranger
After spending the first decade of his career at different Michelin-starred restaurants (collectively 14 stars) in France, Jérôme realised that the pursuit of Michelin stars should not be the only definition of his professional development. At 26, he bid farewell to his family business and instead went to London to assist Pierre Gagnaire in his first restaurant overseas. He saw London a city full of cultural clashes and felt exactly what Albert Camus depicts in the Nobel-winning novel L’etranger – an outsider who observes but can never participate.
Although first frightened by such feelings, he later decided to portray this adventurous journey through utilising the knowledge he obtained in Japan of the Kaiseki philosophy and aesthetics in his work at L’étranger.
First of its kind, L’étranger won extraordinary reviews and patronage by celebrity clientele and is acclaimed ‘London’s Best Kept Secret’.
Thirty years as a chef
At L’etranger, Jérôme did not pursue any stars, refused to put a label on his culinary style and instead chose to explore the profound meaning of French and Japanese fine-dining culture and the ultimate gastronomic experience.
To further his understanding of oriental cooking methodology and cultures in a global context, Jérôme came to Shanghai and named his first restaurant ‘SILEX’ after the stone that sparked the first fire in human history. And his second restaurant BLANCHE celebrated his 30th anniversary of career and took his ‘art cuisine’ to a residence of historic significance in Wukang Road.
