Antoine Westermann

Antoine Westermann
Chef Antoine Westermann
Born	(1946-04-04) 4 April 1946 Alsace, France
Education	Culinary school in Strasbourg, France
Website
Culinary career
Cooking style	French cuisine
Rating(s) Michelin stars
Current restaurant(s) Le Coq Rico, New York City Drouant by Antoine Westermann, Paris Mon Vieil Ami, Paris Le Coq Rico, Paris La Dégustation, Paris
Award(s) won • 1994 : Three stars Michelin Guide 19/20 au Gault et Millau • 1983 : 2 stars Michelin Guide • 1975 : 1-star Michelin Guide

Antoine Westermann (born in 1946 in the north of Alsace) is a French chef.

He is a three-star chef of the Michelin Guide for his restaurant "Le Buerehiesel" (which means "the farmer house" in Alsacien) in Strasbourg, France.^[1] He cooked there until 2007 before changing course.

Today Westermann is the chef and the owner of four restaurants in Paris: "The Drouant by Antoine Westermann",^[2] "Mon Vieil Ami",^[3] "Le Coq Rico",^[4] and "La Dégustation".^[5] In addition he is opening a new restaurant in summer 2015 in New York City in the Flatiron District of Manhattan.^[6][7]

Biography

Education

Antoine Westermann intended to become a cook because he grew up in Alsace which cuisine is distinguished by its know-how, taste and thousands of flavours and recipes. His mother and his father both love above all cooking and sharing good food with friends around the table.^[8] He studied at the culinary school in Strasbourg and then started to work during seven years in a famous restaurant of Strasbourg, which was well known for its good home French cooking named in France: "cuisine bourgeoise". He had strong support from his father, who decided in 1969 to take a mortgage out on the family house to offer him his first restaurant in Strasbourg: Le Buerehiesel !.^[9]

Alsace

Antoine Westermann was 23 years old when he became the owner and the chef of his first restaurant, an old farmer house from the 17th century placed near the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The Michelin Guide give him his first star in 1975, then a second star in 1983. And he received the third star in 1994, at 48 years old. That same year the French Gault & Millau Guide give him a note of 19/20.^[10] At that time he was one of the best French chefs of his generation with Michel Bras, Bernard Loiseau, Guy Savoy and Alain Ducasse.

Abroad

Always looking for culinary inspiration, Antoine Westermann was during more than 15 years chef and cook consultant in several cities in the world (Lisbon,^[11] Funchal,^[12] Vienna^[13] and Washington D.C.^[14]). This includes the role of recruitment, learning and management of the cook teams. In 2014 he decided to stop all those activities aboard and open a new restaurant in Manhattan as owner and chef, in partnership with another Alsacien, Francis Staub, who is the owner of the French "Cocotte from Staub" made in cast iron and ceramic.^[15]

Paris

In 2003 he opened his first bistro in Paris: "Mon vieil ami" ("My best old friend" in French) on the Ile Saint Louis near Notre Dame.^[16] Then he moved to Paris. And in 2007 he takes over the well known restaurant "Le Drouant" in the Opera Garnier district, where deliberates the French literature jury of the Goncourt prize (since 1914). In 2012, he opened a third restaurant in the district of Montmartre "Le Coq Rico": the Bistro of Beautiful Birds. And two years later a champagne bar and delicatessen "La Dégustation".

Restaurants

France

• 1969 : "Le Buerehiesel" : 3 stars Michelin Guide in Strasbourg^[17]
• 2003 : "Mon Vieil Ami" in Paris^[18]
• 2006 : "Drouant by Antoine Westermann" in Paris^[19]
• 2012 : "Le Coq Rico" : Bistro of beautiful birds in Paris^[20]
• 2013 : "La Dégustation" in Paris^[21]

United States

• 2002-2005 : Restaurant "Café 15" at the Hôtel "Sofitel Lafayette Square" in Washington, D.C.^[22]
• 2006-2013 : "Le Café du Parc" - Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C.^[23]
• 2015 : "Le Coq Rico" : The New York Bistro of birds will open summer 2015 at 30 East 20th Street, NY 10003^[24] +^[25]

Portugal

• 1999-2014 : "Fortaleza do Guincho" in Caiscais^[26]
• 2007-2012 : Restaurant of the Hôtel "The Vine", "UVA" in Funchal-Madera Island^[27]

Cooking style

With three Michelin stars, Antoine Westermann is self-taught and completely immersed in the same Alsatian cuisine on which he bases his current personal culinary style. Over the years, Westermann has revisited the Alsatian culinary tradition in his own way, and many emblematic dishes have emerged, becoming part of his three-star repertoire: “Truffle Foie Gras Crusted Pâté”, “Young Hen in a Baekeoffe”, “Frog's Legs with Schniederspaetle”, “Beer Brioche”, “Young Fatted Hen Terrine with Fennel & Foie Gras”. Naturally curious, his first love outside of Alsace would be the cuisine of Southwestern France. Some have said he is the most Mediterranean of the Alsatian chefs. As early as 1994, he would be listed among the five top chefs in France, along with Alain Ducasse, Bernard Loiseau and Michel Bras. His preferred cuisine is generous, festive and elegant.

Recipes

• Young Hen in a Baekeoffe
• Recipe of Young Fatted Hen Terrine with Fennel & Foie Gras^[28]
• Recipe of Frog's Legs with Schniederspaetle^[29]
• Daube of Warm Vegetables with a Salad of White Haricots with Aged Vinegar^[30]
• Beer Brioche

Books

• Le coq Rico, la cuisine des belles volailles Antoine Westermann,^[31] photos by Marie-Pierre Morel, illustrations by Shane & Christophe Meyer - Editions Marabout, 2013 ISBN 978-2-501-08204-4
• La cuisine de Monsieur Momo"^[32] by Maurice Joyant and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, recipieces of Antoine Westermann - Editions Menu Fretin, 2011 ISBN 978-2-9170-0833-1
• Cuisine-moi des étoiles" by Jean Orizet and Antoine Westermann^[33] - Editions Le Cherche midi, 2009 ISBN 978-2-7491-1070-7
• La cuisine ménagère d'un grand chef^[34] Antoine Westermann - Editions Minerva, 1999 ISBN 2830705394
• L'Alsace des saveurs retrouvées^[35] Antoine Westermann, Andréa Zana-Murat - Editions Albin Michel, 1998 ISBN 2-226-08792-3

Chefs books

• Burger de chefs^[36] by Thérèse Rocher photos by Delphine Amar-Constantini - Editions Larousse pages 192 to 194 : Poultry Burger and Strass'Burger, 2014 ISBN 978-2-03-590461-4
• Le nouvel art culinaire français^[37] - Editions Flammarion, 2012 ISBN 978-2-08-127251-4
• Les 100 mots de la gastronomie^[38] Alain Bauer & Laurent Plantier - Editions Que sais-je?, 2010 ISBN 978-2-13-058504-6
• Trois étoiles au Michelin : une histoire de la haute gastronomie française et européenne^[39] Jean-François Mesplède, preface by Alain Ducasse - Editions Gründ, 2004 ISBN 2700024680
• La haute cuisine française, les recettes emblématiques des grands chefs du monde^[40] Nicolas de Rabaudy, Preface by Antoine Westermann, illustrations of Sandrine Courau and Reno Marca - Editions Minerva, 2001 ISBN 2830705408

References

External links

• Official website
• Official Twitter
• Official Facebook Le Coq Rico
• The French Wikipedia of Antoine Westermann