"Definitions"

At times we find ourselves having to come up with some new expressions to express the cuisine we find.

1. Haute-Rustique (also known as Haute Grand-Mere) - This refers to the trend that Ducasse and others started around 1995 where the menu is inspired by family cooking typical of the region in which the restaurant is located, but rendered in a much more sophisticated way. It usually involves much chunkier vegetables, grilled, roasted, baked meats served in their sauces, and always is dependant on the ingredients available that day or week at the local market.

2. "Classic Modern" - This is about a style of cooking that sprang out of the short lived "Nouvelle Cuisine". Nouvelle Cuisine sprang on the scene in the 1970's in reaction to classic cuisine. It gave young chefs freedom to indulge in their creativity rather than work within the contraints of a cuisine mainly established by Escoffier. It was characterized by lighter food, simpler and using fresh products and seasonal ingredients. It utilized shorter cooking times allowing vegetables and fish to retain their natural flavors as well as nutrients.

This put more emphasis on the chefs themselves, highlighting culinary experimentalism, welcomed influences from abroad especially from Asia and focused on personal artistry. The plates themselves became far more artistic with bigger plates allowing different tastes to be enjoyed separately as well as artistic plate presentations take place. Food for the eye as well as the mouth.

This culinary break through had a tendency to result in very small servings and ingredients from all over the place. It evolved into a cuisine that focused on locally available ingredients and tastes rendered in new, exciting ways. The recipes and approaches created by the hand full of chefs who created Nouvelle Cuisine and evolved Novelle Cuising like Chappel, Troisgros, Gerard etc. are still around and are still delicious. Despite Chappel having died in the early 1990's, his cuisine lives on in Mionnay. Other chefs, less know, established their style during the late 1970's and 1980's and while they change their menus, often their style and approach remains the same and just as delicious; just not ground breaking any more.