HOW TO DEFINE LUXURY TODAY? AND IF IT WAS SIMPLICITY!

4 March 2019

What a pleasure to explore Paris with the 2018 promotion of Sup de luxe! Women and men from Switzerland, Spain, Moldova, Lebanon, Russia, India, China, Taiwan, Mexico and France! Enough to make you dizzy to discover the #Luxe à la française by visiting places that, each in its own way, shake up the usual codes of luxury.

Our journey began with the two Manufactures of Mr Alain Ducasse under the aegis of Damien Couliou for chocolate and Olivier Fellous for coffee. An immense pleasure for the taste buds, because, who would not succumb to chocolate with this trip to the heart of cocoa beans, which already begins 50 meters from the place where it is said, with a bewitching smell, then with the view, that of chocolate that can be seen in the window, but first of all in beans, until it is transformed into a notch, then into paste, and into chocolate candies. Everything seems so simple and yet, the precise gestures since the choice of pods, roasting and candy making show that luxury is the expertise and ritual of the gestures. Thanks again to our guide Miguel Rodrigues who accompanied our discoveries and questions.

Then it was the "coffee moment" with this new Manufacture de Café, under the direction of Olivier Fellous, a few meters from the Manufacture de Chocolat and in a district that took us off the beaten track of the usual "Golden Triangles", dear to the luxury sector! An amazing place, two French champions - Brice Robin in 2017 and Tom Balerin in 2019 at the last #Sirha - and a passionate and exciting guide, Mounir Oumessaoud! Industrial and reassuring decoration of the metal structures recovered from the Banque de France that punctuate the sales and tasting area. We were able to witness the roasting tests in an ad hoc laboratory that positions the master of gastronomy once again on excellence, but in the simplicity and truth of the flavours on this specialty coffee that weighs only 1%, compared to the convenience coffee that fills our cups so badly! Incredible luxury by the rarity of the coffee cherries that are processed in this magical place so close to the Bastille!

Maison Plisson with Stephane Bernard was another nugget of our journey made by the fifth promotion of Sup de luxe for whom I had imagined this #FoodTour. Simplicity and efficiency of the welcome, the customer experience takes on its full meaning, a perfect expression of conviviality, with products of excellence, a service by the line, permanent smiles that anticipate the slightest desire of the visitors we were, (but also in usual operation, I tested "incognito"!). Luxury of simplicity through the authenticity of the products, simple and clear merchandising, smiling and considerate sales teams. Luxury here is undoubtedly a certain rarity in every respect, not only by the offer - which is selected from exceptional craftsmen, a trend more "#fooding" than gastronomic and essential point also with a first-class service! A model of simplicity in the offer and implementation, a demonstration that luxury is also this beautiful simplicity that enchants palates before so much accessibility.

Then, sweet delights with Philippe Conticini's new adventure and his Gâteaux d'émotions, plural emotions offered and assumed and we tasted surprising pastries by the shape, often round, spherical, soft, a presentation by Camille Tauzin, which opened the doors of a new place dedicated to delicacies.

Finally, at the end of this tour, a great classic, the Maison Fauchon, our discoveries accompanied by Bruno Cosquer because luxury is also history.

So what about luxury today? It is a "return to basics" as a recent article in @TheConversation on January 24th mentioned: "To ensure the social acceptability of luxury, we update its essential and differentiating signifiers: mastered know-how, a preserved heritage, and an anchoring in modernity, because the customer is now a #millenial that must be trained ! ».

And that's what we saw during this #FoodTour for the #mbasupdeluxe!

This "gastronomy" radiates the French way of life as a story in the making and I like the idea of participating and contributing in my own way, through the discovery, transmission and analysis of ecosystems.

By Alice Darmon.