The Mirazur is one of the best restaurants in the world. For years. But recently, celebrity chef Mauro Colagreco has made his menu dependent on the position of the moon. What is that about, he explains in an interview.
Mauro Colagreco is a high-flyer. The head chef at Mirazur on the French Riviera has made a meteoric rise in recent years. In 2019 the restaurant won three Michelin stars and first place in the “World’s 50 Best Restaurants” ranking. In the meantime, the Mirazur has been inducted into the “Hall of Fame” for the “Best of the Best”. More is not possible. But instead of simply continuing to surf on the wave of success, the celebrity chef dares a creative reorientation. His culinary work now depends on the position of the moon.
Mr. Colagreco, how did you come up with the – with all due respect – extravagant idea of suddenly making your three-star restaurant dependent on the moon?
The most decisive thing during the corona restrictions was the change in pace. Even before that, I had daily contact with the garden, it is right next to my house. But I never had more time to work side by side with the gardeners and to capture the energy, all the small changes and subtle energies that arise when working with techniques such as permaculture and biodynamics in the garden. Nature showed us the continuity of life and cycles at a time when people and their actions had to come to a complete standstill. That moved me and encouraged me to take a closer look at the development of the menus and the dining experience at the Mirazur.
It is said that you are at least as much a top gardener as you are a top chef. Almost everything that you use in the restaurant grows in your hillside garden. You will also take care of the oldest avocado tree in France. Why is cultivation so important to you?
I think the most important part of our work takes place in the earth. A chef is first and foremost a food artisan, and preparing a dish is the final part of a much broader process that has to do with the origin of that food, how it was treated, and how it came to us. All of these processes take place outside the kitchen, in the country, in the gardens, in the sea and on the farms. We cooks should spend a lot more time outside of our kitchens investigating the origins of the products we use. I like to see myself as a gardener who likes to wear a chef’s jacket.
And what does the position of the moon have to do with it?
The lunar calendar helps us reconnect with the beauty and power of nature. We follow the same influences and cycles as animals and plants, only we are not trained to perceive them. Resuming this dialogue inside and in the places we inhabit is the only way to ensure the continuation of life on earth. It’s that simple. Your ability to continue enjoying the beauty of the world depends on it.
What do you mean when you talk about a connection with nature?
Even in ancient cultures, farmers used calendars for cultivation, with which they followed the rhythm of the stars, and today’s biodynamic calendar also takes into account positive cosmic impulses that have a direct effect on growth. The calendar comprises four formative forces that are assigned to the different parts of the plant: earth for the roots, water for the leaves, air for the flowers and fire for the fruits. The forces change every day depending on the position of the moon in the sky and determine the times when the energy in the individual parts of the plant is most favorable and concentrated. With the change, we in the Mirazur follow this continuous movement of nature, the cosmic influences and the interactions between all living beings.
What does that mean for your daily work?
The garden is the heart of the restaurant. We make sure that we harvest the right plants at the right time so that they are really in top condition – taste, maturity. Depending on which day the guests come to the restaurant, they will immerse themselves in another of our four Mirazur experiences: root universe, leaf universe, blossom universe and fruit universe.
So menus that consist exclusively of leaves, roots, flowers and fruits?
No. The leitmotif is an element that runs like a red thread through the menu. We also work with regional products – from the sea, the land, the mountains. You can find an artichoke cake in the flower menu. In the leaf menu we offer a pigeon cooked with Neptune grass or a “Mille Feuilles” lamb. On the fruit menu, the main course could be veal with apricot glaze. And to round off the root menu, we offer a ragout of new potatoes and garlic with caviar. Of course, these four menus change almost every week, depending on the season. In addition, the table decorations and the dishes change with each universe. It’s like the Mirazur is four restaurants in one.
The Mirazur had a fabulous reputation. Is the change a risk?
It was wonderful to be number 1 for two years. Recently we were named “The Best of the Best” along with some incredible chefs who were previously also first place. However, our motivation has never been about attaining a position or receiving an award; it sprang from our creative passion. We want to do our best every day, keep learning, develop and move forward. In this way, we will get even better at sharing our passion and delivering the best possible experience to our guests.