I̱aki Aizpitarte РThe Chef Behind Le Chateaubriand

Chef Iñaki Aizpitarte is the man who has made Le Chateaubriand all the more popular when his restaurant jumped from the 40th position in the S. Pellegrino list to this year’s 11th position.  This recent victory of Chef Aizpitarte’s Le Chateaubriand is proof that he is fast becoming one of the greatest chefs in the world and that his cuisine is something worth having if ever you are in France.

It was by accident that Chef Aizpitarte landed a flourishing career in the culinary world.  He was first a stonemason, but he also did odd jobs as a landscape painter.  When he traveled to Israel, he had to find ways to support himself, so he looked for a job in the restaurant world and landed a job as a dishwasher.  His first job was at the Rozata restaurant, and it was there that he learned the fundamentals of cooking and fell in love with the art.  Once he was behind the stove, he was at his element that he was soon creating his own dishes, giving them his own style.  He stayed in Israel for four years, and it was there that he improved is self-taught culinary skills.

When he came back to France, he looked for jobs in some of the top restaurants in Paris.  He wanted to enroll at a culinary school, but his financial situation cannot afford it.  What he did then was to learn from the chefs he was working for and, at the same time, do his own studying of classic culinary books to hone his culinary skill.

Le Chateaubriand was opened in 2006, and it soon earned a reputation of being a neo-bistro.  He serves French cuisine, but he mostly serves Basque dishes with a very modern twist.  His perfect blending of ingredients and skill in creating scrumptious dishes soon earned him a loyal patronage.  Pretty soon, he was also earning good reviews as the food critics and restaurant journalists also fell in love with his culinary style.

To prove that he deserves those praises, his restaurant was named as the 11th best restaurant in the world, according to the very prestigious S. Pellegrino list.  This clearly cemented his name and restaurant in the culinary world, making it as one of the must-visits whenever you are in France.  However, he has yet to win a Michelin star though.

Michelin star or no Michelin star, Chef Aizpitarte is very much busy in his culinary career.  He has Le Chateaubriand to manage and clients to satisfy, and he also has his new projects to keep him busier.  For one, he is going to open a new restaurant in Paris, Le Dauphin, and although it looks far from finished, it has already won a Best Décor award from Le Fooding.  Right now, food lovers, as well as food critics and restaurant journalists, are now waiting for the grand opening of his restaurant.  They cannot wait to try the new restaurant and see if it comes up to the very high standards set by the famous chef’s first restaurant, Le Chateaubriand.

This year, he has also been invited as the guest by the Hors Pistes 2010 Festival.  Here, he and his restaurant business partner, Frederic Penau, presented a homemade music video.  Aside from this, last November 2010, he has also participated at the 10th anniversary of Le Fooding where he, together with Philippe Katerine, created a dish out of cooked beans.  It fast became one of the favorites of the guest.  Other chefs that have participated in the said event were Chef Jean Francois Piege who made stuffed tomatoes, among others.

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