The Chef

I've never been interested in pretending. Not in playing the superchef. Not in looking down on anyone. And not in screaming “à la poubelle!” because something was cut at 3 millimeters instead of 2. Not in preaching productivity, or promising dinner in 20 minutes with a corner office, a spotless house and a flawless blowout thrown in along the way. Although dinner in 20 minutes is something we genuinely can do at F11.

I'm not going to teach you how to live. How to enjoy it, though? Absolutely.

In any recipe, the key is understanding what's happening in your pan. How a particular ingredient behaves, why it behaves that way, and what to do about it.

If you know the technique for a basic omelet, you can make any variation of it. Without a recipe. If you understand the key points of shortcrust pastry and know what to do when the berries give off too much juice, you can build a tart to your own taste, around whatever catches your eye at the store. And as a bonus, a perfectly baked base. Admittedly, some people find a certain charm in a slightly soggy bottom, but we are not those people.

That's exactly how we were taught at Ferrandi. Techniques aren't handed out one by one; they're explained and lived through recipes. That's where you get not only a deep understanding but muscle memory. Once in a while you'll need a second go. But let's be honest: good evenings also take a couple of retakes on the wine glasses and a few hours stolen from tomorrow morning. And they're only better for it.

At F11, every recipe puts the emphasis on technique, so that afterward you have complete freedom. For me, that's the heart of it. Because it isn't the recipe that inspires. It's the ingredients.
Meat like a Persian rug. Peaches like sunlight through cheesecloth. Tomatoes with a whole childhood under their skin. And best of all, you no longer freeze in front of the fridge with panic in your eyes, googling “what can I make with what I have at home.” Because you know. And you have everything you need.

And no, we won't be advising you what to use instead of the steak in steak au poivre. There is, after all, a big difference between an instrumental and a cover.

Another important pillar of F11 is ingredient pairing. What goes with what, and why.

And of course, stories! Nothing works up an appetite like a dish served with a good story.

And something very precious to me: I speak in my own voice. No tone-of-voice filter, no “expert project” letterhead. In the first person, with no box to fit into.