Run by Christian Caldera, a famous French Chef, who first came to Kenya in 1974 just before he clocked 18 years. Christian’s first big break was servicing the newly built Gigiri UN Complex – which at that time needed a Chef to cater for the high profile guests that would be streaming in the country for meetings – there. He has been in the restaurant business ever since – which has seen him become the first Chef to set shop at the French Cultural Centre in Nairobi, operating a restaurant there from 1977 to 1991and later partnering up with Alan Bobbe of Alan Bobbe’s Bistro at Koinange Street.
For the Good France dinner, Chef Christian will be serving a one off dinner meal made up of three courses inspired by the South Western region of France.
According to Caldera, cooking is a philosophy that requires precision and value. He believes that the visual presentation of any food should not come before its quality. It is why he loves using the products in Kenya as they are high quality and fresh.
“I am extremely picky about what I work with, and Kenya has extremely good products that are not easily available in other markets,” the self-taught chef said.
He also believes that to be a world-class chef, you need to combine good product with good technique that is not only refined but finessed. The third thing would be to teach others about the process itself and being kind.
For today’s event, the guests will have a choice of rillettes de canard (duck rillette) or salade de gesiersconfit (gizzard confit salad) for the starter.
The chef prepares the rillettes de canard by chopping the duck and slow cooking it in fat until tender. The next step is to shred the duck and to cool it with fat to create a paste. The paste is then spread on bread.
The gizzard salad is also prepared in duck fat and served with mixed greens.
The main dish will be a choice between Confit de canned (preserved duck) and entrecote bordelaise (steak bordelaise).
For dessert, guests will have a choice of Crème Brulee and tourte sucrée de pruneaux, flambée à l’armagnac (Sweet pie with prunes and Armagnac) served in a pipe.
There will be an assortment of wine from South Western region of France to accompany the meal.
Location: La Belle Époque, Alliance Française
Time: 7pm onwards
Cost: KES 2500 (exclusive of wines)
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For Reservations: Contact Phone number +254 746 440 550 and/or e-mail labelleepoquerestau@gmail.com
By Nduta Waweru. (Video by Larry Asego Photography and Gilbert Nyangor.)