Creating a symphony between food and nature is the newly-opened Duet by David Toutain. However, it is not just the duality between food and nature. The tasting menu at Duet also harmonises the culinary philosophies between executive chef Toutain and chef de cuisine Valentin Fouache.
“My philosophy is about products first. I think products are very important. I was born in Normandy and my parents and grandparents worked on a farm, so I was always very focused on good products. It can be meat, fish, poultry, a lot of vegetables. Good quality products give good flavour even if it is minimum on a plate with the right cooking,” says chef Toutain.
Chef Toutain wasn’t really interested in food as a teen. It was a stint at the age of 17 in a Michelin-starred restaurant that brought about a change in mind and a love for food. “I just loved it. It was amazing… the products. the philosophy, everything was very precise. Everything made sense after that.
“Though I was born on a farm, I rarely paid special attention to my grandmother’s cooking or the products. It was natural for me to get milk from the cow to drink. As I grew, everything like the right season for certain products came naturally to me,” adds the chef.
When designing the menu at Duet, chef Toutain’s main focus was people. “I think it is very important to work with the right people, at the right moment. It’s not just about the cooking, it’s about meeting people to create something together; to make something happen.”
A lot of research went into the menu. The chefs ate a lot of street food to understand the food culture and learn about how people eat in Thailand. “The food culture is very, very, very strong. At Duet, it is a similar idea. We create something that is very close to the people working in a kitchen, in a restaurant, in a hotel. Then we focuse on the products to create something very interesting. Even the plates were designed by Valentin and I as we are creating something very unique, very individual, something very specific. We are also focused on flavours; everything needs to make sense in a tasting menu. We just want to create something like a beautiful story,” emphasises chef Toutain.
Housed in a conservatory, with added seating on an outdoor terrace and views overlooking Lumphini Park, Duet has 32-seats and is open for lunch and dinner. Expect French cooking techniques combined with Asian produce... think Brittany pigeon sausage inspired by northern Thai sausage served as a prelude to pigeon breast or Panang curry paired with foie gras.
Dishes embrace the simplicity of a farm-to-table menu, while offering an organic sense of nature, reflected in the restaurant’s botanical designs, with soft sage hues and flower-pressed handmade paper for the menus.
Provenance storytelling cards are presented with each dish and are a keepsake for the menus. Each one narrates the origins of the showcased ingredient and how it influences the quality and flavour of the particular course. Also revealed is the mastery of special chef techniques used in specific dishes. While the wine pairing goes hand-in-hand with the courses, it is the zero-proof pairing that is the star.
“The menu focuses on duality. Duality is like mixing something together. We try to speak about everyone involved in the dishes, even the local ceramist. The menu will change season-by-season. We find new suppliers, new farms and new products throughout the year to have fun with. It's very important that when you wake up every morning, you get up just happy to cook. You’re happy to create something. You’re happy to make mistakes and grow day-by-day,” says chef Fouache.
“The Thai palate is different from the European one. Here, they love spicy, a bit of acid, and sweet and sour food, not too much bitter. Right now, Thais are more concerned by Western cuisine and that’s good for us because they are quite receptive to French cuisine. Of course, we also need to adapt our style a bit but it’s not a big deal,” adds chef Fouache.
The menu at Duet will not change all at the same time. “If we have nice carrots on the menu for January or beautiful cauliflowers or celery roots, we will change a few dishes depending on the produce coming in. Maybe we keep the same protein and only change the garnish. The idea is not to change everything. Some days we may have good fish, which may not be the same the next day.
“We play with nature, we play with humans so it’s not always perfect but this works. It is very exciting to work like this and it’s all about what is best in the right moment,” adds chef Toutain.
