Squaring the circle

At the Table by Bruno Verjus, respect for produce takes centre stage

- ■ NIANNE-LYNN HENDRICKS

Nothing will prepare you for the moment you first lay eyes on chef Bruno Verjus at his Paris restaurant. His eclectic personality is immediately noticeable in his fashion choice, which is much like the cuisine he offers.

Born in Renaisson in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France, Verjus often refers to himself as the "oldest, youngest chef". Verjus, a self-taught chef, spent the early years of his career as a doctor and then a medical entrepreneur, blogger and food critic before the cooking bug took over.

"I was hosting a show on National Cultural radio with my friend Alain Kruger and felt like, 'I need to cook for people.' I then had to go to Singapore to write about a lot of restaurants. I spent 10 days there and when I came back to France, I wrote just one page and that was the concept of my restaurant and the name I wanted to call it," chef Verjus reveals.

"It was then I decided to quit everything and open Table. Everybody told me I was crazy, which was true because I did not get the point for real. I was thinking, 'Oh, my God, it's so cool, to nourish people and to open a restaurant!

"By the way, it was not very cool, because at the beginning it was very hard, especially the first three years. I had to learn two jobs at the same time — being a chef and being a restaurant owner, which are two different things completely. In the end, I feel I will never quit Table because I cook as a diner. I do dishes that I want to eat as a diner," says the chef.