Bras' new restaurant in Japan is due to open in June(according to my sources) & is located in a resort outside Tokyo,forgotten the name.However the chef is Alex Bourdas,a native of Rodez,onetime youthful stagiare chez Bras & chef Patissier for a season(my first)so very much in tune with Michel's philosophy.I read with interest(the new book) the part where Michel's second specifies a talent for extracting strength's from his personnel,a talent i can testify too on a personal front.Such skills allied to a work ethic which is practically unheard of amongst 3 star chefs suggest that the new venture will retain a distinct Bras character with a high level of personal involvement from the man. Whatever undertaking Michel initiated under my tenure within the kitchen involved a huge individual effort(e.g. The design of the restaurant,format of the books,design of silverware,3rd star celebrations,planning of his sons' wedding etc........)I was costantly aware that the scope of the man far exceeded his culinary endeavours,such undertakings were conceived & executed meticulously & simply Bras in style.Bras observes his environment(wherever he may be)& translates his observations in a way that can honestly be described as genius,a talent which few of us share.As far as translatable I believe he is not ,because of the very fact that his conception & execution of ideas together are most certainly unique,when i say translatable i mean at a level equivalent to his own ideas/standards of course a debased translation is possible. Just a spin on the El Bulli thread,have the food critics created a monster??? The ego is a powerful source, somebody mentioned that Adria looks towards the U.S as a creative inspiration, I perused a recent copy of Food Arts(A virgin no more) that was littered with "celebrity chefs" not cooking in their restaurants!!this does not illustrate the point I just thought that funny.
