When it comes to dining, there’s no question in his mind that “classic French cooking” is his favorite. But his preference hasn’t kept Didier Lailheugue, a member of the elite order of Maitres Cuisiniers de France and the executive chef at the InterContinental Buckhead Atlanta, from traveling the world or being open to other traditions.
After the InterContinental maintained the Au Pied de Cochon restaurant for seven years from the hotel’s opening in 2004 until 2011, Mr. Lailheugue didn’t object to changing the restaurant’s name, which originated from that of the original Au Pied de Cochon that opened in 1946 in the Les Halles section of Paris, at the time the central market for the city’s meats and vegetables. Since the name-change he has collaborated with the distinguished American chef, Charles Arthur “Art” Smith, to feature Southern U.S. cooking and rename the restaurant, the Southern Art and Bourbon Bar.
Mr. Smith, a specialist in Southern food, owns restaurants in Chicago and Washington and has cooked for numerous politicians and celebrities. For 10 years starting in 1997 he was Oprah Winfrey‘s personal day-to-day chef. He also won the James Beard Award in 2002 for his book Back to the Table: The Reunion of Food and Family.
Mr. Lailheugue told Global Atlanta that he recalled Ms. Winfrey had eaten at the restaurant. Although he wasn’t certain what she ordered, he suspected it was fried chicken. But Ms. Winfrey’s preferences aside, Mr. Lailheugue isn’t shy about stating his preference for “traditional, classic French food.”
“That’s where there’s all the flavor,”he said.
And that’s what participants at the upcoming Beaujolais Nouveau celebration to be held at the InterContinental on Friday, Nov. 18, from 7-11 p.m. can expect.
Mr. Laileugue already has planned the offerings, which are to include traditional French dishes such as quiche lorraine, poached eggs meurette and beef bourguignon. He added that the beef bourguignon should be especially appetizing because it will be made from beef cheeks that have to be carefully prepared over a long period of time. He also said that he is proud of the wine and tomato sauce, a classic of French country cooking, that is to grace the poached eggs meurette.
Aside from these dishes, the event will offer his charcuterie board, meats presented in a smorgasbord of cuts cures and flavors, all prepared in the kitchen, and a pate roulade that will be made several days ahead of time so it is prepared for the celebration. For dessert there are to be petit fours and profiteroles.
All of these offerings, he added, will be compatible with the Beaujolais wine on hand at the annual event benefiting the French-American Chamber of Commerce, Atlanta Chapter (FACC), a non-profit membership organization of the promotion of French-American business exchange.
Mr. Laileugue traced his love of French food to the family farm in Doazit, a commune not far from Bordeaux in southwestern France, where he grew up.
His grandmother, Madeleine, introduced him to the variety of meats, vegetable and fruits on the farm. “We never went to a supermarket,” he said. She could choose from the asparagus, artichokes, potatoes, tomatoes, and endives among the vegetables. For the meat, there was an abundance of geese, ducks, chickens and beef, and for the fruits, apples and cherries. “All of the fruits except the exotic ones like bananas,” he said with a smile.
Every two years he tries to return to France and eats with family members and friends, generally avoiding restaurants. In keeping with the theme of Mr. Smith’s book, Back to the Table:The Reunion of Food and Family, he thinks that “the best food in France is with the friends and family.”
Inspired by his grandmother, nevertheless he needed professional training to meet France’s stringent codes and attended culinary school for four years. He then traveled throughout the south of France as an apprentice working at restaurants in St. Tropez, Cannes and Lyons, and even for a time in Monaco where he was in the kitchen run by the world famous chef Alain Ducasse.
“When you are young and want to learn, it’s not hard, it’s exciting,” he said of his time with the exacting Mr. Ducasse.
After leaving Europe, he also worked in the Caribbean where he met his wife, Lothe, and then joined the staff of a restaurant on the French Polynesian island of Bora Bora.
He traces his journey from this post to Atlanta, which he said was “almost by accident.”
Invited to leave Bora Bora to work in an InterContinental hotel in Mexico, he spent four years there before being transferred here seven years ago.
During the Global Atlanta interview, he remarked how much the city has changed from a regional city center to one with a large array of restaurants including his favorite French one, Anis Bistro, where he said that he likes the informal atmosphere and the food and service are good.“It used to be only Southern cooking”in the city, he said. But now almost any variety of ethnic dish can be found.
The demands on his time also have grown. The InterContinental’s kitchen has 45 employees and prepares around 400 meals a day though that number can climb to as many as 1,000, he said, due to the kitchen being open 24 hours every day for room service and breakfast, lunch and dinner also being served. With 32,000 square feet available for banquets, there are special events, such as the Beaujolais Nouveau celebration, which also have to be taken care of.
But he has no complaints for there are many competent cooks already in his kitchen and others seeking work. To work for Mr. Lailheugue, the applicant is asked to show his skill at making an omelette (not an easy task, he said), as well as essentials such as mayonnaise, pasta and deserts such as profiteroles.
Southern Art’s menu, he said, is a blend of chef Art Smith’s Southern cooking heritage and is committed to serving traditional classics prepared with a light, modern approach.
“If a plate is full of flavor and is rich, you don’t need a big plate,” he said.
To register for the celebration, click here. The cost for members of the FACC is $55, for non-members $75. For tables of 10, $700.
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