?The real test of a chef?s greatness is not how well he cooks, but how well the kitchen runs when he is not around?
WAITING FOR MY TURN TO INTERVIEW Alain Ducasse, one of the world?s most celebrated chefs, at Enderun Colleges, I felt as if I was about to enter the school principal?s office.

Will he be nice or stern? Will our meeting be pleasant or contentious? Days before he arrived, the stringent rules of protocol his handlers had given to the press had made him seem distant and unapproachable, as if he were a dictatorial head of state, or the aforementioned school principal, rather than a chef whose business is to nourish people.

During the press conference following his arrival, his smiles had been few and far between. He spoke only in French, relying on translator Anna Austria to relay his thoughts to his audience. In addition, there was a strict 15-minute limit allotted to each interviewer during the one-on-one segment.

When the moment came to finally meet him up close, Ducasse turned out to be different. He smiled more. He seemed warmer, friendlier. As he expounded on his ideas, I thought I caught a glimpse of the genius behind the enterprise that includes the Alain Ducasse Formation, three culinary schools in France, and 25 restaurants around the world, three of which have been honored with the coveted three Michelin stars.

How he keeps tabs on such a far-reaching global enterprise is part of this genius. Personally choosing his chefs is one thing, knowing whom to choose is another.

Ducasse said he can easily pick from an entire roster of wannabe?s those who have talent and those who don?t, those who will stay and those who won?t.

?I can tell quickly if they?ll fit into our philosophy,? he said. After that, it?s a matter of training them and trusting them.

?I design the culinary content. I collaborate with the chefs and this collaboration is already 85 percent of the dish. I taste, we adjust, and that?s the other 15 percent,? he said.

Work ethic

Delegating the day-to-day operations to his chefs, he expects them to carry out their tasks well.

?The work ethic is there and there?s complete trust. They prepare lunch and dinner every day, so in this regard, they?re better than me. They have this desire to do better and better, precisely because I?m not there.?

When he?s there, he said, they?ll just expect him to fix things. Instead, he has put them on auto-pilot and they?re on self-drive.

Indeed, as critic Steven Shaw once said in his article ?Culinary Correctness?: ?The real test of a chef?s greatness is not how well he cooks, but how well the kitchen runs when he is not around. The world?s best chef is the one who has rendered himself the most dispensable.?

As dispensable as he has made himself in his restaurants, Ducasse conceded it?s still good to motivate his chefs. He cited the example of one chef who had spent five years in New York and five years in Tokyo. Now Ducasse has given him the enviable chance of teaching in Paris.

Conversely, those who can?t take the discipline or who aren?t up to par eventually leave.

?It?s a process of natural elimination,? he pointed out. Nothing irks him more than a chef who?s dishonest, one who has chosen not to do well even when he can do better. These are the people who don?t stay.

But to those who do stay, Ducasse gives the opportunity to learn all they can learn. He admires those who wish to grow professionally and personally, those who have the permanent desire to evolve, as he himself perhaps has. He dreams of one day finding someone who can replace him. As of today, he hasn?t found such a person yet.

Innate substance

Does he think chefs are born, or are they made?

?You can always train them,? he answered, ?but there has to be some innate substance because this is a very difficult profession.?

As celebrated as he and his restaurants are, Ducasse is realistic enough to accept that he can?t please everybody. True, aside from the total of 10 Michelin stars that his restaurants have been crowned with, there have been rapturous reviews in the media.

In 2003, the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences named him the ?Finest Chef in the World.? Even cantankerous critics who insist on finding something wrong in every meal can?t help but rhapsodize over a dish or two in his famous restaurants.

And yet there have been unsavory comments as well. In a 2009 article, French food critic Francois Simon accused him of ?empire-building commercialism,? ?stratospheric prices? and ?absenteeism.?

?There will always be people who won?t be happy,? he reasoned. ?One has to listen to critics, whether it?s positive or negative.?

He thinks that bad reviews are never as bad as they sound, just as good reviews may not be as good as they seem. ?There has to be a right balance.?

He?d fight the reviews if they were unfounded, but that?s not always necessary. ?The chef and the journalist are always right. Everyone thinks they?re always right.?

As we stood up to leave, he surprised us by posing with us for a picture, going against one of the rules of engagement that had been sent out to the press. He stood up from his chair, spread out protective arms over Inquirer writer Vangie Baga-Reyes and me, and smiled for the camera.