6:51 pm In less than 10 minutes the Lvtetia open the doors. Eric Jacquin he’s been inside for hours: after leaving the Président restaurant, he watched the lunch service end; held a meeting with producers; took a picture with onlookers who asked to see the new restaurant, even if it was closed; did not eat lunch; he had three espressos with half a dozen petits fours; answered the phone repeatedly; made reservations; created a tasting menu at the request of the maitre; discussed the waiters’ uniforms; he devoured a plate of raw ham, although the thickness and greasiness did not please him.
At that time, he saw the brigade gather in the middle of the hall. The chef had never witnessed the scene and preferred not to leave his chair to hear the prayer. He just said, “When you’re done, I want to say a few words too.”
You never know what Jacquin is going to shoot. His 1.73 meters tall, spread over almost 90 kilos, always seem more imposing than they are numerically: “Look, the energy here is good, but you need to cheer up. The restaurant is sad, people. It looks like an old man about to die. It’s very clear, understand? I want to see this old man’s peeps grow up”.
Nobody says anything. “I already took off the red apron you guys had. Why don’t you work (sic) in color now? Everything is black… It’s very clean here, you need to mess up this restaurant, you can’t be afraid: open the wine bottles, take this shit out of that arrangement and put some pretty flowers, look for the statue I brought of Napoleon III…”. As the silence persists, Erick leaves, swapping objects around.
Sagittarius like the chef, Lvtetia (with the same “v”) practically opened to host his birthday party on December 9th. A few steps from the Président, on Rua da Consolação, in Jardins, it is his fourth home in the city (there is also the Ça-Va bistro and the Buteco do Jacquin).
“At the President I can cook, but sometimes they don’t let me, because they want to talk to me, take a picture and also because I’m afraid of getting in the way of the cooks, who already have a way of doing things. Even so, I cook”, vents the Frenchman.
In fact, when he gets between the pots, Jacquin has his own rhythm, unattainable: it’s the way of moving, chopping, the precise amount of use of each ingredient, it’s a unique dish. It’s what he loves to do most.
In times of fame, however, the kitchen is a luxury – in the case of the open kitchen at the Président, it is also one of the most popular Instagram photo settings: “Many people come to share a plate, a petit gâteau, just to take a picture. It’s fine, as long as they pay for the waiters’ service. What you can’t do is for at 6 in the morning at the airport they ask to hold my cheek, or ask me to hang up the phone to take a selfie on the street “.
For these and other reasons, the most beloved of the MasterChef judges is visibly tired. This week he went to little Dun-Sur-Auron, in France, to celebrate his mother’s 92nd birthday. On the way back, he will combine a couple of events with the Band recording marathon and the day to day of the restoration.
Speaking of which, each of its brands tells a culinary story: the Président refers to the star-studded restaurants where Jacquin went and to the heyday of his extinct Brasserie, in the Higienópolis district.
The Ça-Va was inherited from the recordings of “Nightmare in the Kitchen”. In the middle of a pandemic, the former owner passed away and, his son, seeing the affection dedicated during the transformation, offered the place. Buteco, in turn, was suggested by its partner, Orlando Leone. A fan of feijoada and caipirinha, there was no hesitation. Now, Lvtetia is a way to do something else Erick loves: tease!
Attractive without losing its elegance, modern mezzo, classic mezzo, the space that housed the disputed Bar Numero, has a peculiar accent – like that of his own speech, which, not infrequently, falls into unintelligibility.
More: it is a tribute to the person who brought him to Brazil, the restaurateur Vicenzo Ondei. At his invitation, in 1994, before arriving in São Paulo, the Frenchman traveled all over Italy. Yes, it took time to sunbathe on the Amalfi Coast and enjoy wine in Tuscany, but above all it was a dip in the passion that Italians have for gastronomy.
So much so that in addition to honoring the “father Ondei”, Lvtetia gives up cream, excess cheese and butter in the name of freshness and local flavors. From there goes the carpaccio as tradition dictates; the creamy polenta without covering up the corn flavor; escargot risotto, with Florentine-style snails and allo zafferano rice (with saffron), just like the Milanese say.
The masses, that is to say, are a separate episode. Some are so thin that they resemble delicate gyozas, all are generously stuffed and some are combined in the same dish. In other words, there are recipes like shrimp ravioli with prosecco and Paris mushroom emulsion, and beet ravioli as an accompaniment to scallops.
Can you understand the monsieur’s tiredness a little? “Today we have four restaurants, we have to put up with it. I’ve worked without energy. on Bahia street [primeiro endereço de sua antiga Brasserie] sometimes the light went out and we didn’t complain. What do you do at these times? They sell something cold, steak tartar, carpaccio, something that is easier to make, a fish that goes in the oven. But today the guy blows up because he has a lot of reserve. What the fuck is this? No problem, but go away, I’ll go to work”.
Foul-mouthed by nature, it may seem like it, but the chef has not forgotten the hardships of maintaining a business.
“I’ve had to sell lunch to make dinner. I would get ice at the gas station, buy the wine at the store in front with the sommelier’s credit card, mine was to pay for the employees’ transportation.”
“My wife woke up at 4 am to make breakfast at the flat where the restaurant was to help me. We had nothing.”
Slightly traumatized, for seven years, Jacquin declined all invitations to lend his name to bistros throughout Brazil. Then he met his partner, Orlando, and promised that when he settled his last labor lawsuit, he would get back into the game.
In just over two years, the duo that never imagined that they would convert a shoe store in Jardins into one of the most sought after restaurants in the capital of São Paulo (if not the country!), envisions a fifth development, a steak house in the Helbor Wide complex, in Reboucas Avenue.
“There are still many plans ahead”, reveals the cuisinier. Are awards among them? “I’m kind of against this thing, but Alex Atala said something I loved: those who don’t like it are those who aren’t on the list. I always thought of myself above everything else. It’s not the guy with the biggest dick who has the best sex in the world, is it? I know that my team (sic) works well and I’m happy that way”. Erick Jacquin has reason to be happy.
Source: CNN Brasil
