March 21, 2019

Gôut de France: A Global Celebration of French Cuisine

The French Embassy in the Philippines launched the fifth Gôut de France / Good France with a press preview of some of the dishes to be offered by the participating chefs at the esteemed Champagne Room of the Manila Hotel.

The participating chefs together with Manila Hotel President Joey Lina (5th from right) and French Ambassador Nicolas Galey (6th from right)

The launching event gave the guests a chance to sample some of the dishes that will be offered by the 27 participating chefs from the Philippines. It offered a variety of food choices from starters to main courses and desserts. The guests also had a chance to interact and talk with the chefs personally.

La Mère Poulard Manila, one of the participating restaurants in the Philippines

Also read: La Mère Poulard in BGC: Molded by History and Fond Recipes

Gôut de France, organized by French embassies from over 150 different countries, is an annual celebration of French cuisine all over the world.

For one day, thousands of participating chefs from different parts of the world serve a traditional French dinner. The menu follows the order of starter, main course, cheeses, dessert, and is also accompanied by French wines and spirits.

Tito Chef’s spread during the dinner preview

And for this year, the worldwide gastronomical event is set on the evening of March 21, 2019. Five thousand chefs from different parts of the world are expected to participate in the celebration and 27 of those will be coming from the different areas in the Philippines.

Below is the list of chefs and restaurants participating in this year’s Gout de France:

Chef Jacq Tan (Apéro and Duck & Buvette)
Chef Ariel Manuel (Bistro Manuel)
Chef Didier Derouet (Café Adriana by Hill Station)
Chef Gene Gonzales (Café Ysabel)
Chef Konrad Walter (The Manila Hotel: Champagne Room)
Chef Vicky Pacheco (Chateau 1771)
Chef Jessie Sincioco (Chef Jessie Rockwell Club)
Chef David Olyver (Eiffel Kubo)
Chef Martin Kaspar (L’Entrecôte Manila)
Chef Bruno Tirel (L’Epicérie Gourmande)
Chef Waya Araos-Wijangco (Gourmet Gypsy Art Café)
Chef Robert Lilja (Maria Luisa’s Garden Room)
Chef Clément Damotte (La Mère Poulard Manila)
Chef John Louie Gonzaga (Milagritos)
Chef Hervé Clair (Raffles Makati: Mirèio)
Chef Trish Panlilio (Mulberry Door)
Chef Glenda Maupin (Petit Bistro)
Chef Justin Baradas (Enderun Colleges: Restaurant 101)
Chef Marc Aubry (Sagana French Bistro)
Chef Jonathan Bouthiax (Anya Resort Tagaytay: Samira)
Chef Cocoy Ventura (SGD Coffee Roastery)
Chef Julien Cossé (Sofitel Philippine Plaza Manila: Spiral)
Chef Patrice Freuslon (Tauro Pintxos, Tapas, Wine Bar)
Chef Menoy Gimenez (Tito Chef Restaurant)
Chef Pierre Cornelis (Vatel Restaurant Manila)
Chef Richard Amado (La Vie Parisienne and La Vie in the Sky)

Ambassador of the French Republic to the Philippines Nicolas Galey also graced the preview last Wednesday, March 14.

Ambassador Nicolas Galey during the launch

In his speech, he emphasized how important it is to promote good food, especially in tourism and for this year, they focused on the French southern region of Provence.

Further, he highlighted how Gôut de France, aside from promoting French cuisine, illustrates that a high-quality meal need not always to be expensive.

“It’s important to show that you can have a very good French meal and very good French wine for a very accessible and budget-friendly prices,” he said.

Gôut de France also promotes responsible cuisine for this year as they urged the participating chefs to create “planet-friendly” menus by making dishes that are less in fat, sugar, and salt.

Gôut de France was first introduced in 2015 by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and renowned French chef Alain Ducasse.

To browse through the menus and learn more about the chefs and the restaurants participating on March 21, visit http://restaurateurs.goodfrance.com/en/participating-restaurants.