Pierre
Jancou is one of my favorite cooks in Paris. He does the seemingly
simple task of taking raw elements – such as a pan of root
vegetables – and making them taste better than you thought that
vegetables could taste. I first came across his cooking when he was the
chef/owner of Racines.
I’d ordered a simple pasta Bolognese, which isn’t something I would
usually order unless I was confident of the restaurant. (It’s one of
those dishes that if done well, is great. But it takes a certain
hand, and sensibility, to get it right.) However when I saw him
slicing various kinds of Italian salumi
(charcuterie) that I’d not seen in Paris, on a vintage Berkel slicer, into
paper-thin slices and draping them on a plate, I took a chance on the
pasta.
And I was
glad I did: It was one of the best pastas I’ve ever had, anywhere. I
still remember it today; a tangle of nearly translucent pasta just barely
sauced (almost as if there wasn’t any on it), but the plate of pasta
had a profoundly deep, meaty essence that I still remember nine
years later.
Pierre went
on to open Vivant and
a wine bar next door to it, then nomadically took some time away from the
kitchen, and is now back at Achille
in Paris (43, rue Servan, 11th). I spent some time with him before
he left Vivant, in the kitchen and at the bar, where he presided over an
especially eclectic collection of natural wines, part of his mission to
feature wines that are more than
organic.
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