The joy of music

When it comes to music as with gastronomy, the chef has definite tastes that tell a story and come straight from the heart. “When I was an apprentice, we used to listen to U2. It provided a break in our long working days. That memory has stayed with me. A few weeks ago, at the "Cuisine & Music" closing dinner of the 2018 Haute Cuisine Festival in Verbier, I naturally chose to associate my cooking with the music of U2, because it tells a story of my life's path and roots.” Joël Césari is brimming with musicality and enjoys plucking at the heartstrings. “Music is a means of accessing emotion. I like to draw a parallel with cooking. Just as you can be completely bowled over by a voice or a melody, you can be similarly bowled over by a dish. They are two extraordinary worlds of creativity.” Driven by the freedom afforded to the arts and imbued with the strength of Django Reinhardt’s gypsy jazz riffs and the exquisite penmanship of Yasmina Khadra, Joël Césari dares to create, to break down boundaries and to explore. In the grain of a voice as in the elegant subtlety of a dish, emotion is the magic ingredient that makes this Jura chef tick. “That is part of our job as chefs: to be able to stir emotion, to make people want to come back for more”. And just as you listen again and again to a piece of music that transports you to another place, the guests of La Chaumière return time and time again to savour the chef's exquisite symphony of flavours.

There's Renaud, Brel, Jonasz and Cocker. There are the notes that resonate louder, longer and more intensely. And then there's intoxicating emotion. At La Chaumière, Joël Césari's score falls into this category.