Revelations: chef Cyril Lignac

06 January 2023
Revelations: chef Cyril Lignac

We delve into the life and inner thoughts of a top chef. This week: Cyril Lignac, who has restaurants in Paris and London.

What was your best subject at school?

Maths

What was your first job in catering?

An apprenticeship in a Michelin-starred restaurant in Aveyron in the south of France with the Fagegaltier sisters

What do you normally have for breakfast?

A banana, five almonds, five hazelnuts and a green tea

What do you do to relax?

I love playing polo. It's my escape. It requires effort and humility

Which is your favourite restaurant?

Hélène Darroze at the Connaught

What's your favourite hotel?

Claridge's

What is your favourite drink?

I appreciate wine. I particularly like Rhône's monovarietals and more mature Bordeaux, but my favourites are Bourgogne wines

What is your favourite cuisine?

I like Japanese cuisine. It's delicate, airy, yet very tasty. Seasoning is key, it creates magic

Which person in catering have you most admired?

Alain Passard, chef of the triple-starred restaurant L'Arpège in Paris. I had the chance to work there as soon as I arrived in Paris

Which person gave you the greatest inspiration?

My mother

Cast away on a desert island, what luxury would you take?

My marshmallow bears

If you had not gone into catering, where do you think you would be now?

I was a volunteer fireman when I was younger, so I that would have been the path I would have chosen

When and where was your last holiday?

Last summer, in Saint-Tropez, where I just opened a new pastry shop, La Pâtisserie Cyril Lignac

What irritates you most about the industry?

Food waste

What's your favourite film?

The Thomas Crown Affair

If you had more time, what would you do?

I would go to Argentina and play polo in the pampas fields

Image: Yann Deret

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