What should the coffee experience be in a Michelin star restaurant?
Jun 08, 2018
What should the coffee experience be in a Michelin star restaurant? And how to maintain the world class service standards by creating an unforgettable coffee experience?
Being a three Michelin star restaurant is a privilege that only a few Chefs have, and very difficult to maintain throughout the years. It is a very demanding business with amazing goals: to create unique experiences, memories and to achieve excellence. The quality of the products, the terroir, the producers and of course, the very detailed service and attention to each customer is essential.
Why shouldn’t coffee follow the same philosophy? It is very disappointing to think that most Michelin star restaurants today, don’t offer coffee in the right way and the quality is often very poor.
« Do you want coffee or tea »? is not the way to end the amazing experience of customers who come to your restaurant to live a unique gastronomical experience!
In order to create an unforgettable coffee experience, you should pay attention to all the steps, from the coffee flower to the final cup! The coffee list isn’t shown in the same way as you would a wine list: just like there isn’t just one type wine in France, coffees aren’t all the same. All the knowledge you have about wines can be extended to coffee.
It is a pity that chefs are promoting coffee capsules, because they are not showing the DNA of their cuisine and their philosophy about products. A 3 Michelin star restaurant, or any luxury restaurant would severely benefit from a well thought out coffee experience.
A few years ago, Regis Marcon, a very famous Michelin chef approached me with the idea of creating a coffee experience matched to his cuisine, which is mainly mushroom based. First of all, I studied his tasting menu, which was rich in flavour and creative in the pairing. I decided, together with a friend who is a chef in another three Michelin star restaurant, to analyse the facets of this world, to better understand the techniques of the cuisine and of the chef. I organized different workshops with the help of an expert roaster to create a blend which is linked to the DNA of the chef, his terroir and the specificity of the cuisine and service offered.
We cupped many coffees from different terroirs to reach the aromatic notes which would be the best paired to the mushroom chocolate. We then worked on the roasting profiles for each origin to obtain a unique blend matching every plate to a coffee.
Coffee should be part of the complete gastronomic experience. The perfect harmony of flavours, rigorous preparation and service excellence! From beginning to end.
In the end, the customers were able to live a personalized and dedicated service, which only a three star Michelin restaurant is able to offer. The last note of the meal or first taste of the day: coffee is more than just a simple drink. It is the most consumed drink after water, and everyone should understand how important it really is.
