Legendary French chef Alain Ducasse offers advice for Detroit-area chefs and restaurateurs

It's a rare opportunity for Detroit-area culinarians to have one-on-one time with a chef and restaurateur as esteemed as French chef Alain Ducasse.

With 21 Michelin stars under his belt — the second-highest number of stars held by chefs across the globe — Ducasse owns 31 fine dining restaurants from Paris to Kyoto, and he's expanded his brand to include a publishing branch, a culinary educational arm and a chocolate and gelato factory.

From a meeting room at The Study at University City, a sleek Philadelphia hotel steps from the Drexel and University of Pennsylvania campuses, French chef Alain Ducasse addressed somewhere near 100 attendees of The Chef Conference, a series of panels and events for food-industry leaders across the country.

A room of chefs, food entrepreneurs, journalists and restaurateurs listened in on a conversation between Ducasse and writer and editor Jeff Gordinier on the Michelin-starred chef's meteoric career and his recently released memoir, “Good Taste: A Life of Food and Passion,” (Gallic Books, 2024).

Following the conversation, Ducasse sat down with the Free Press to pass along some advice for Detroit-area chefs and restaurant owners, many of whom follow French-inspired traditions. He offered advice for local culinarians on overcoming failure and burnout, the benefits of collaboration over competition, and suggested one essential piece of reading material that should be in every cook's arsenal.

Here are his words of wisdom, translated from French by his press director Emmanuelle Perrier:

If chef only had one meal left on earth to eat, where/what it would be? -James Rigato, Mabel Gray chef-owner

Alain Ducasse: It would be a wild red mullet, freshly caught on the Mediterranean seaside by a great fisherman. In the Mediterranean Sea, you have some specific parts that are rocky with red rocks, giving the mullet its red color, so it would have to be caught on this specific part of the Mediterranean seaside, of course, just freshly caught. You’d leave the scales on and keep everything inside — sometimes, when you go to the (fishmonger), you’d ask him to take the liver, etc., but for this type, you’d just take it from the water to the grill and eat it warm. No seasoning, just off the grill. That would be the perfect meal.

What motivates you more? Collaboration or competition? -James Rigato, Mabel Gray chef-owner

AD: Collaboration, because collaboration means that you will be better in competition. By being a great team, you will be better if you have to face a competition, but there can’t be competition among the team members.

What piece of advice would you give successful chefs that feel burnt out in the industry? -Ben Robison, metro Detroit pastry consultant

AD: Ask yourself, ‘What did I do wrong? What did I do well? What was my key element of success — my key element of failure?’ Discuss that among your close friends and take actions and move on. And be ready to change your mindset — and maybe, change everything: your location, style, chef, team. Be ready to be shaken. It’s very stressful and fearful to analyze the reason for failure, so you shouldn’t be afraid of that. But in the end, after you’ve done everything, take action. Dare to change.

How have you managed to weather the many challenges, twists and turns the industry has taken over the decades? -Sandy Levine, Chartreuse, Dragonfly, Freya and The Oakland owner

AD: If you can feel the next change — of course, there are changes that are absolutely unpredictable, but if you can just try to anticipate a little bit what’s going to be next, then do it. You can do that by looking at your contemporaries. What they do, what you like, what you see on TV. Stay ahead of the curve.

In his experience, how does chef strike a balance between honoring culinary traditions and the embrace of modern culinary ideas or trends? -John Yelinek, Ladder 4 Wine Bar executive chef

AD: There has been a change in the last 10 years. Maybe 10 years ago, you could really mix tradition and modernity easily. But now, we lean more towards clear distinctions. If you’re going for tradition, go for true tradition. If you want creativity for the sake of creativity, then do something else. It’s about consistency and clear messages.

Is there a difference in what defines success in the U.S. vs. Europe? -Omar Anani, Saffron De Twah chef-owner

The notion of success in the U.S. is not linked to time. You can be a successful restaurant in a short period of time. To be a successful restaurant in Europe, it takes time. You need to be consistent for years — 10 years, 20 years — and then eventually, you become a successful restaurant. I remember very young, successful chefs in the U.S. 15 years ago who were “super successful,” and you don’t hear about them today. It’s like summer heat. There’s a song of the summer, but then it’s in and out. And 20 years later, you forget about it.

What was the most important thing you wish you had known when switching from chef to restaurateur? Omar Anani, Saffron De Twah chef-owner

It’s about training your colleagues. Giving your knowledge. Transmit, educate, because you will be able to continue developing. I’ve not been in the kitchen for about 25 years, I said that clearly, so when you hand the keys of the kitchen to one of your colleagues or collaborators, that doesn’t mean that you forget about it or you lose control, of course you still have control, but you’re delegating the kitchen because you have faith in your team.

What’s one cookbook or reference guide every aspiring chef needs on their shelf? -David Richter, Alpino owner

Grand Livre de Cuisine: Alain Ducasse's Culinary Encyclopedia (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, 2007) My pocket-size in English. One of the attendees of the conference brought it today and said he'd cooked 250 of 750 recipes, which is huge.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: French chef Alain Ducasse answers questions from metro Detroiters