You need to marinate your vegetables for several weeks before they become tasty pickles. Dominic Quirke, at the head of the restaurant of the same name, took a few years to mature and succeed in his professional reconversion. It must be said that when we see him moving around, between the cozy room, the boiling kitchen, or the telephone that never stops ringing, it’s difficult to imagine that the fifty-year-old, who in ten years has become one of the world’s leading chefs who weigh in in Nantes, had a first career in IT.
“I had never studied computers but after repeating my baccalaureate in Newcastle, I looked at what I could do and I found this training, “business and IT”, confides the Franco with a slight accent. -British, 54 years old. I was good and then, at work, things were going well. I dealt with one wave after another, but I always had the feeling of not understanding…”
Nourish “physically and spiritually”
In his restaurant Pickles, which is among the best rated in the Nantes selection of the Gault et Millau guide (14/20), the boss “with tree-like thinking” says he feels in his place. Fresh and local products, creativity, attention to detail…, what he prefers above all is the relationship with the customer. “At each table, beyond the simple welcome, there is something that happens between us and him,” observes Dominic Quirke, who offers menus from 24 to 60 euros. For me, gastronomy means being sensitive to the customer, nourishing them physically but also spiritually. »
A bond of trust that he no longer found when, approaching forty, he decided to abandon computer keyboards. Then an IT consultant in France, after several moves and two children, the bank for which he had just invested in a long six-month project put his work “on the shelf”. The desillusion. “There, you say to yourself what’s the point ? All this money spent on this… What is all this? I needed something more meaningfull, which would satisfy my desire to give and get involved. »
“Not just a recipe story”
So the idea of cooking came to him. “It’s always been a form of relaxation,” assures this light-eyed man. I invented my rules, I felt free. But from there to doing that for real, in an environment known to be very tough…” But Dominic Quirke, supported by his wife, always has in mind this meeting, made during a “personal development” internship offered precisely by Capgemini, his employer. the time. “I was able to go to Ferrandi’s for three days,” he remembers. That’s when I noticed that cooking wasn’t just about recipes. There is a gesture, you have to put your hand, your elbow, your shoulder, etc., he describes, mimicking the gesture. We are really in touch with what we are doing. »
One Fongecif file later, here he is again in CAP in an adult training center, where he “invests fully”. Several years of internships, experiences, positions as commis then chef de partie or sous chef, until the creation of his establishment in Nantes, in 2013, where he expresses his “creative and uninhibited” style, according to the Michelin Guide. “That was my goal, so when I started again at 38, I had to learn quickly, I had no choice! Today, still being here and celebrating the restaurant’s tenth anniversary, I tell myself that it’s not nothing! »
If the chef claims to still have “a lot of passion for cooking”, he admits that the only thing he could miss from his previous life is “time with the family”. Perhaps a little peace of mind, too, since as elsewhere in the restaurant industry, there tends to be a shortage of manpower, and it’s difficult when you’re the only one in charge. “Having a restaurant, creating something of your own, you wouldn’t do it if you really knew what it was,” smiles Dominic Quirke, before putting his apron back on. But if the customers, the employees, and I have fun, then it should continue to work. »