November 20, 2024 • 12 mins
Chef Alexis Gauthier of Gauthier Soho is located in Soho, London, in a Regency townhouse. Gauthier Soho is a traditional fine-dining French restaurant serving all vegan fare. Chef talks about growing up in the south of France, being the first restaurant in London to create an all-vegetable tasting menu in the late 90s, and cooking techniques to bring the most out of vegetables. Since becoming vegan in 2014, Chef decided he no longer wanted his restaurant to profit from serving animals. He saw the pandemic shutdown as an opportunity to transition the restaurant to being 100% plant-based.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:17):
[Music]
My name is Alexis Gauthier and I own this beautiful restaurant called Gauthier Soho
in central London where we do the most amazing French gastronomy without animals.
Well the restaurant is a traditional French restaurant in a grand scheme
of things where we welcome customers where they are going to spend about
(00:42):
three or four hours with us and when they are going to eat my Cuisine and
this is what I've been doing here in so for the last 15 years almost.
Well as far I'm concerned there is nothing unusual other than us or me
being inspired purely by vegetables and plant in general so there is no animals
(01:03):
whatsoever in the restaurant not only in the in the plate but also everywhere
around we have removed every piece of animals we used to use in the past.
Really my my my professional career started in south of France and in south of France
the core ingredients are pretty much vegetables and fruits. I started my
(01:25):
professional career in Nice and then after in Monaco and I was always very much interested
by cooking you know plant and vegetables, but then after I obviously opened my first
restaurant serving animals but yet looking into the the world of plant-based cooking.
(01:46):
and I think I was one of the first chef in London to create a tasting menu purely based
around vegetables and that was in 1998, so this was a long time ago and then after we
I I developed a normal French restaurant, in parallel a testing menu with animals and
a tasting menu with plant and we had Michelin Stars and so it was all going very well and...
(02:12):
but one day I decided to to go a little bit more into my research into vegetables
and I wrote a book called 'Vegetronic', which really put the vegetable in the center of the
plate and still animal ingredients but more on the subtle light of the of the vegetables.
(02:33):
and then in 2014 I became vegan, so you can imagine for traditional french Chef becoming
vegan it was something quite challenging, but I did it because I realized that you know um
there was animal consciousness now it was a fact it wasn't just something we thought yes or no.
(02:59):
No it's it's a fact and I decided that I did not want to carry on profiting from the torment,
torture and death of people who did not want to die to finish in a plate.
So from this moment I turned my restaurant into a vegan restaurant
(03:22):
and all our creative skills were put into developing plant-based
cuisine from starters to pudding and it was a it was a new journey.
The pandemic had a deep impact because just before
the pandemic we had a little bit of well still a little bit of animals,
(03:44):
we'll have had let's say scallops in the menu, we would have had... I don't know a cut of sea bass.
and then obviously covid hit us and I saw it at as chance for us to once and for all turn
the restaurant into 100% plant-based and I felt like the customers as well were ready
(04:12):
to to start imagining a French gastronomic restaurant with all its tra la la, you know?
With the one waiter coming to the table and trying to talk to you about the wine,
to the silver on the plate crystal glasses and yeah everything that makes a French gastronomic
(04:35):
experience so French, but yet I wanted to add this element of vegan Cuisine and the
compassionate element that now I think people are ready for and understanding
what we're trying to do and to be fair I was right because that was really the
right thing to do, at the right moment and and covid was a turning point for us.
(04:59):
I think my customers reflect what people feel in this time and age, you know,
everybody is concerned about you know the planet.
But I'm quite vocal about about me wanting to end the the use of animals in French Gastronomy,
so I guess I attract a lot of people who share the same kind of thoughts as as I have.
(05:23):
Yeah 50% of my customer come here because they are vegan for the animals just like us, just like me
and I would say 25% do not want to eat animals because they know it has an impact on the planet
and then you have 25% of flexitarian so like a lot of people I think and it's a majority
(05:45):
of people this day and it's really give me a lot of hope for the future and I think you
know I hear people saying 'oh yeah actually I don't eat meat Tuesday Wednesday Thursday'
or 'I've stopped eating meat for lunch' or 'I've reduced the amount of fish I consume'.
and I think it's something that we need to take on, I mean other chefs need to take on
board because people are demanding for the creativity from Chef, which really reflects
(06:11):
what our customers want and our customer want, you know, they want less animals that's for sure.
As a chef I know that it's super difficult to be able to shift from being taught how to
express your creativity with animals to being able to express your creativity purely through
(06:34):
a plant-based inspired menu and it was very scary for me, it will be very scary for a lot of chefs,
but I will encourage chefs to to go for it. Not be scared. To really use their creative
skills and and all the juice they have to to develop wonderful plant-based dishes,
because people are going to demand that and as a chef it's our duty, we have a duty.
(07:04):
When moving to being exclusively plant-forward has really put the
light on the potential of creativity, I think before and a lot of chefs would feel the same,
I was a little bit constrained with my Gastronomic, French Gastronomic past.
(07:27):
There was things I could do and things I could couldn't do because I had been taught the the
the right way and there was a point in my professional career when I said 'well you
know what I'm going to use what I've been taught, but I'm just going to use it obviously without the
animals and perhaps everything I've been taught in the past is going to be very useful for...'
(07:48):
and and yes it does, you know, the the refinement and the the light touch of
the French Gastronomy is so useful even now, me not using any animals.
I use that a lot, but yet there is the other window which had been opened the
day I decided to be creative and to to only use
(08:12):
you know plant-based cooking is there is no limit and there is no restraint.
If I want to put strawberry as a starter, why not? If I want to use Aubergine in puddings,
why not, why not? As long as it tastes good, why not?
So I will say to chefs don't be scared because your creativity is what makes
(08:38):
you as a chef and I think being able to cook plant-based cuisine is this new planet that
you discover in your professional life and you can you can explore it and it's such a chance.
I feel I feel so lucky to be able to do what I do. I think when it comes to plant-based
cooking it's a lot more precise. You cannot hide behind a beautiful cut of beef or behind the
(09:06):
most succulent scallops no no no no no when you are cooking vegetables you are exposed,
you are naked and so it has to be really really perfect.
and when when I did for example the the green asparagus dish, this is something we have refined
to perfection I will say because we have looked at the asparagus and we have looked at how we
(09:30):
will have cooked it in the French traditional way where you boil the vegetables in salted
water for x amount of time and then you refresh them, but actually by doing that you wash away
all the deliciousness of the asparagus and when the asparagus is the star of the dish,
you need to think about how am I going to concentrate the flavor,
(09:52):
how I'm going to make it look even better and that is something we have been-- I
say we because you know my team of chefs and myself, we have you thought long and
hard about it and we've realized that by just stabilizing the Chlorophyll on the asparagus,
concentrating flavor without giving any coloration because when you give coloration it adds some
(10:16):
bitterness to the asparagus is super fragile so we don't do it and then de glazing with the
Bouillon and then concentrating the taste with the cover, this is an explosion of asparagus flavor.
So I think the techniques are refined constantly and this is just the beginning,
I mean what I'm telling you today probably in 10 years time I will tell
(10:39):
you so much more about how to enhance the flavor of the original product.
It's just it's just a progress and we are right into it.
Yeah I mean it's the the reality is we cannot continue, it's a duty of chefs I think,
Chefs have a duty to put their creative skills in the the developing plant-based dishes for
(11:02):
their customers for many reasons but the obvious reasons is the the the animal welfare, which just
can't carry on the way we we have been doing for the last 50-100 years, that's just not sustainable
and whether chefs like it or not the customers are going to ask for more more creations around
(11:27):
plant-based cuisine and we need everybody, we need every chef everywhere to put their creative skills
into that to create some delicious dish.
Because I think there is still a difference between delicious and plant-based cuisine.
A lot of people say 'oh no I'd love to be vegan I'd love to have more
(11:53):
plant-based dishes in my life, but it's not as good as a roast chicken or...'
Of course it's is not as good...yet. Future. Let's put our creative skills. Chefs have
a duty to to to do that and so I want to encourage I mean when I encourage my chef,
the other chefs I meet and this is why I'm doing what I'm doing today; is to try to convince more
(12:15):
chefs to to do what I do and to put more of the creative skills into the world of
plant-based cuisine for the wellbeing of you know the planet, but more importantly for the animals.
[Music]
[Music]
My name is Alexis Gauthier and I own this beautiful restaurant called Gauthier Soho
in central London where we do the most amazing French gastronomy without animals.
Well the restaurant is a traditional French restaurant in a grand scheme
of things where we welcome customers where they are going to spend about
(00:42):
three or four hours with us and when they are going to eat my Cuisine and
this is what I've been doing here in so for the last 15 years almost.
Well as far I'm concerned there is nothing unusual other than us or me
being inspired purely by vegetables and plant in general so there is no animals
(01:03):
whatsoever in the restaurant not only in the in the plate but also everywhere
around we have removed every piece of animals we used to use in the past.
Really my my my professional career started in south of France and in south of France
the core ingredients are pretty much vegetables and fruits. I started my
(01:25):
professional career in Nice and then after in Monaco and I was always very much interested
by cooking you know plant and vegetables, but then after I obviously opened my first
restaurant serving animals but yet looking into the the world of plant-based cooking.
(01:46):
and I think I was one of the first chef in London to create a tasting menu purely based
around vegetables and that was in 1998, so this was a long time ago and then after we
I I developed a normal French restaurant, in parallel a testing menu with animals and
a tasting menu with plant and we had Michelin Stars and so it was all going very well and...
(02:12):
but one day I decided to to go a little bit more into my research into vegetables
and I wrote a book called 'Vegetronic', which really put the vegetable in the center of the
plate and still animal ingredients but more on the subtle light of the of the vegetables.
(02:33):
and then in 2014 I became vegan, so you can imagine for traditional french Chef becoming
vegan it was something quite challenging, but I did it because I realized that you know um
there was animal consciousness now it was a fact it wasn't just something we thought yes or no.
(02:59):
No it's it's a fact and I decided that I did not want to carry on profiting from the torment,
torture and death of people who did not want to die to finish in a plate.
So from this moment I turned my restaurant into a vegan restaurant
(03:22):
and all our creative skills were put into developing plant-based
cuisine from starters to pudding and it was a it was a new journey.
The pandemic had a deep impact because just before
the pandemic we had a little bit of well still a little bit of animals,
(03:44):
we'll have had let's say scallops in the menu, we would have had... I don't know a cut of sea bass.
and then obviously covid hit us and I saw it at as chance for us to once and for all turn
the restaurant into 100% plant-based and I felt like the customers as well were ready
(04:12):
to to start imagining a French gastronomic restaurant with all its tra la la, you know?
With the one waiter coming to the table and trying to talk to you about the wine,
to the silver on the plate crystal glasses and yeah everything that makes a French gastronomic
(04:35):
experience so French, but yet I wanted to add this element of vegan Cuisine and the
compassionate element that now I think people are ready for and understanding
what we're trying to do and to be fair I was right because that was really the
right thing to do, at the right moment and and covid was a turning point for us.
(04:59):
I think my customers reflect what people feel in this time and age, you know,
everybody is concerned about you know the planet.
But I'm quite vocal about about me wanting to end the the use of animals in French Gastronomy,
so I guess I attract a lot of people who share the same kind of thoughts as as I have.
(05:23):
Yeah 50% of my customer come here because they are vegan for the animals just like us, just like me
and I would say 25% do not want to eat animals because they know it has an impact on the planet
and then you have 25% of flexitarian so like a lot of people I think and it's a majority
(05:45):
of people this day and it's really give me a lot of hope for the future and I think you
know I hear people saying 'oh yeah actually I don't eat meat Tuesday Wednesday Thursday'
or 'I've stopped eating meat for lunch' or 'I've reduced the amount of fish I consume'.
and I think it's something that we need to take on, I mean other chefs need to take on
board because people are demanding for the creativity from Chef, which really reflects
(06:11):
what our customers want and our customer want, you know, they want less animals that's for sure.
As a chef I know that it's super difficult to be able to shift from being taught how to
express your creativity with animals to being able to express your creativity purely through
(06:34):
a plant-based inspired menu and it was very scary for me, it will be very scary for a lot of chefs,
but I will encourage chefs to to go for it. Not be scared. To really use their creative
skills and and all the juice they have to to develop wonderful plant-based dishes,
because people are going to demand that and as a chef it's our duty, we have a duty.
(07:04):
When moving to being exclusively plant-forward has really put the
light on the potential of creativity, I think before and a lot of chefs would feel the same,
I was a little bit constrained with my Gastronomic, French Gastronomic past.
(07:27):
There was things I could do and things I could couldn't do because I had been taught the the
the right way and there was a point in my professional career when I said 'well you
know what I'm going to use what I've been taught, but I'm just going to use it obviously without the
animals and perhaps everything I've been taught in the past is going to be very useful for...'
(07:48):
and and yes it does, you know, the the refinement and the the light touch of
the French Gastronomy is so useful even now, me not using any animals.
I use that a lot, but yet there is the other window which had been opened the
day I decided to be creative and to to only use
(08:12):
you know plant-based cooking is there is no limit and there is no restraint.
If I want to put strawberry as a starter, why not? If I want to use Aubergine in puddings,
why not, why not? As long as it tastes good, why not?
So I will say to chefs don't be scared because your creativity is what makes
(08:38):
you as a chef and I think being able to cook plant-based cuisine is this new planet that
you discover in your professional life and you can you can explore it and it's such a chance.
I feel I feel so lucky to be able to do what I do. I think when it comes to plant-based
cooking it's a lot more precise. You cannot hide behind a beautiful cut of beef or behind the
(09:06):
most succulent scallops no no no no no when you are cooking vegetables you are exposed,
you are naked and so it has to be really really perfect.
and when when I did for example the the green asparagus dish, this is something we have refined
to perfection I will say because we have looked at the asparagus and we have looked at how we
(09:30):
will have cooked it in the French traditional way where you boil the vegetables in salted
water for x amount of time and then you refresh them, but actually by doing that you wash away
all the deliciousness of the asparagus and when the asparagus is the star of the dish,
you need to think about how am I going to concentrate the flavor,
(09:52):
how I'm going to make it look even better and that is something we have been-- I
say we because you know my team of chefs and myself, we have you thought long and
hard about it and we've realized that by just stabilizing the Chlorophyll on the asparagus,
concentrating flavor without giving any coloration because when you give coloration it adds some
(10:16):
bitterness to the asparagus is super fragile so we don't do it and then de glazing with the
Bouillon and then concentrating the taste with the cover, this is an explosion of asparagus flavor.
So I think the techniques are refined constantly and this is just the beginning,
I mean what I'm telling you today probably in 10 years time I will tell
(10:39):
you so much more about how to enhance the flavor of the original product.
It's just it's just a progress and we are right into it.
Yeah I mean it's the the reality is we cannot continue, it's a duty of chefs I think,
Chefs have a duty to put their creative skills in the the developing plant-based dishes for
(11:02):
their customers for many reasons but the obvious reasons is the the the animal welfare, which just
can't carry on the way we we have been doing for the last 50-100 years, that's just not sustainable
and whether chefs like it or not the customers are going to ask for more more creations around
(11:27):
plant-based cuisine and we need everybody, we need every chef everywhere to put their creative skills
into that to create some delicious dish.
Because I think there is still a difference between delicious and plant-based cuisine.
A lot of people say 'oh no I'd love to be vegan I'd love to have more
(11:53):
plant-based dishes in my life, but it's not as good as a roast chicken or...'
Of course it's is not as good...yet. Future. Let's put our creative skills. Chefs have
a duty to to to do that and so I want to encourage I mean when I encourage my chef,
the other chefs I meet and this is why I'm doing what I'm doing today; is to try to convince more
(12:15):
chefs to to do what I do and to put more of the creative skills into the world of
plant-based cuisine for the wellbeing of you know the planet, but more importantly for the animals.
[Music]
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