Biography
Frédéric
Vardon was born in Normandy, of a butcher and caterer father and comes from a
family of courageous and honest farmers with whom he grew up.
Driven by a huge love for the land, he wanted to become farmer but he did not have a lot of lands that is why he wisely decided to become a cook and entered at the Ferrandi School. This choice enabled him to be committed to his passion and to stay connected with the farm life which is today the source of his inspiration.
He accomplished his apprenticeship with Jean-Pierre Morot-Gaudry, then joined the kitchens of the chef Alain Dutournier until 1987. After his military service and the Michelin Guide in hands, he sent his application to every two and three-star restaurant.
The first person who answered him was Alain Chapel. He asked him to integrate his brigade in Mionnay. This experience will confirm what his grand-mother conveyed him: his deep attachment for traditional French cuisine and a worship for good products. In 1990, really affected by the death of the famous chef, he will continue the adventure during four years by respect for this man who learned him so much.
It is during this period he met the third Alain: Alain Ducasse who proposed to follow him and to join his teams. By his sides, he discovered the wealth and the variety of the pleasure cuisine and his passion for this job will be affirmed. In few years, he became corporate chef and spent 14 years to travel all around the world in the most prestigious restaurants of the company.
In 2008, Frédéric Vardon met his current associates with whom he created Corfou, an investment fund which was born from a meeting between the real estate world and the gastronomy one.
In September 2010, they opened together ‘Le 39V Paris’ which is perched in complete confidentiality at the sixth and last floor of a Haussmannian building situated in Paris, George V Avenue, 39. This restaurant falls within a unique range, that of a bourgeois restaurant of the modern times, faithful to values and timeless codes, fleeing trend and ephemeral effects. Real haven of peace sets on the roofs of Paris, at the heart of the Golden Triangle, it will be awarded by a star in the Michelin Guide in less than two years.
Globe-trotter during fourteen years nearby Alain Ducasse, Frédéric Vardon travelled every continents more particularly Asia of which he appreciates the delicacy, the respect and inhabitants humility. That is why, when the opportunity to open the peninsular version of his Parisian table arose, he seized it.
So, it is seven years later, in September 2017, he inaugurated ‘Le 39V Hong Kong’, situated in the West Kowloon district at the 101st floor of the ICC Tower (International Commerce Center) which offers a breathtaking view on the whole bay. This table is the perfect reflection of the values which make the success of his Parisian address.
He is committed to promote French gastronomy as
often as possible. Thus, he is always present to different events in France and
abroad. He also organizes some dinners all over the world.
Philosophy
both for a ‘turbot from our coasts with caviar’ or for a ‘farm poultry from Normandy with baked potatoes’… He daily endeavors to bring his customers the best of a product and to make them want to share it.
What pleases him as much as cooking is to build rapport with
the person who produces something exceptional: butter, milk, cheese,
vegetables, fruits, meat, wine… He always applies to spotlight the craftsmen
who work for him, for his customers.
Since the French culinary heritage also includes vine, wine, according to the chef, cannot be separated from gastronomy because it contributes to the palate, the taste, the sensorial associations and the very cuisine learning. He often repeats: “A wine is not produced, it is raised as we raise an animal, we treat vine as we treat a human.”
“Each product radiates the temperament, the mental and the personality of its producer or its breeder. To cook is to have a humanist vision of our profession. That is why even in the Parisian Golden Triangle or at the 101st floor in Hong Kong, I humbly describe myself as an innkeeper.”
Culinary Identity
From Paris to Hong Kong, Frédéric Vardon’s cuisine is elegant, attractive and just. The chef proposes a contemporary rereading of traditional recipes. He composes a neoclassical cuisine and sometimes a little bit raffish.
Frédéric Vardon gives the top
priority to the gist: the taste. A tribute to the essential cuisine drawn from
the heart of the French culinary heritage that the chef interprets throughout
the seasons. He is committed to honor the craftsmen and producers who maintain
and convey a French know-how, respectful of human and environment.
Always in a spirit of warmth and sharing that he loves conveying, the chef combines gist and quality to propose an affordable cuisine for everyone composed of simple, generous and gourmet dishes.
His standard is the tasteful cuisine, the bourgeois one because it is situated at the crossroads of every French culinary tendencies, past and current.
