Whispers and Revelations
It’s always amazing how a childhood perception can determine a man’s future.
The scent of the world came to me in my magical wanderings, as I rode my bike, my nose in the wind, exploring my village and country surroundings around Flaxlanden. During these escapades, secretly and silently, a vocabulary of smells, colors, textures and tastes was built up, which is now a musical background, a living palette.
This vibrancy in the air of my Alsatian Sundays continued in the summer in Moselle, on my grandfather’s farm. It was a plunge into a time of sound, touch and smell, into the raw space of rural life, and I always came away dreamy!
It was the kitchen that chose me, because all around me, through the voices of plants, animals and people, I could hear a murmur full of charm and promise; it was that of the demanding mistress it has become.
I remember that my father wanted to go to hotel school, and the family dinner parties reflected this desire.
They were orchestrated with restaurant-like precision and, as in a restaurant, everyone played their part.
Today, the Il Cortile restaurant is, without question, the expression of this history.
It has become my projection space.
It’s where my past sensations and future visions meet.
It’s where my respect for the products and the men and women who contribute to this demand for quality and truth, which I place above all else and which cannot be achieved without putting one’s heart into it, meet.
Because it’s not about know-how, it’s about love!
Without love, there can be no transformation, no surpassing, no creation.
Today, everything contributes to this quest: passionate producers, loyal and committed collaborators, a spirit of openness that invites discovery and listening; because cooking is not out of this world, it’s in the heart.
Il Cortile is at the heart of the city of Mulhouse, a city full of energy which, for some time now, has been whetting the appetite of the entire region and beyond.
A city of diversity and possibilities, that’s where it belongs!
I admire artists and their ability to change our perceptions.
Very humbly for my part, I also aim to surprise, because there are new ideas in a new flavor.
Knowing that there is no future without a past, I work along traditional lines, always keeping an Italian, Mediterranean piano or forté note, as the case may be.
For example, I’m currently working on a venison fillet with pistachio gnocchi, while revisiting the traditional Grand Veneur sauce with a hint of amarena cherry.
So much for confidence!
It’s a well-known fact that, at the table, we often remake the world.
