‘Parisian, doctor, gourmet, and thinker’, is how José Carlos Capel, president of Madrid Fusión Alimentos de España, described him; and ‘writer and radio commentator before deciding to set up his bistro’, is how journalist Juanma Beliver described him. A global figure, as both expressed. We are talking about Bruno Verjus, a unique chef who has taken Table, his restaurant in Paris, to the top 10 of the best in the world.

The French chef decided to open his restaurant far from the centre of the French capital, away from the spotlight that draws millions of people to Paris. He preferred a more bohemian neighbourhood where customers had to make a special trip to his restaurant to eat, rather than passing by on their way to any of the city's attractions.

The result is two Michelin stars and a must-visit for lovers of French haute cuisine. With one peculiarity: the tasting menu on offer changes daily and is never repeated from one day to the next. To achieve this, he sources his ingredients from suppliers whom he values highly: ‘Who knows the product better than them and knows if it is extraordinary? I asked them to bring me whatever they wanted, but it had to be exceptional’. That's why, for Verjus, ‘every day is like Christmas, a constant surprise’. ‘Discovering what's inside’ each of his suppliers' deliveries is an exciting adventure he experiences every day. He does so with one maxim in mind: ‘no exclusion’, leaving no product out, because ‘cooking is a way of loving everyone at once’.

Verjus boasted of ‘educated customers’ and a vision that allows him to put himself in their shoes: ‘I cook for my customers as if I were the customer’. He also explained that ‘the important thing is the construction of the dish’, while analysing how a diner should enjoy the offerings in at least three bites: ‘The first is the approach, the understanding, the connection, the surprise, the discovery, whatever you want to call it. The second is the taste, the understanding of flavours and tastes; and the third is the sensation’. In addition to all this, ‘we eat with our eyes because it is our first relationship with food’.

Before concluding, he reviewed a global gastronomy that ‘can help reconcile’ in these complex times because ‘when we eat, we open up a little and understand each other’; he praised Spanish cuisine, which ‘is great, diverse and touches me deeply, like product-based cuisine’. And he left one last message: ‘You have to do things with conviction’.

The liquid gastronomy of Table

Alongside Verjus was Agnese Morandi, sommelier at Table, who explained that they do ‘the same with wines. Every day we think about what we want to convey to our customers’. To do this, they focus ‘on the season, on the climate in Paris’ so that ‘it is an exclusive experience’. Service and cuisine go hand in hand in a unique offering that reaches the highest levels in the French capital.