Didier Rochat, the new executive chef of French restaurant La Brasserie (Gateway Hotel), certainly has impressive French-cuisine credentials. He has worked for four Michelin-starred French chefs: Joe Rostang (La Bonne Auberge), Roger Verge (Le Mouline de Mougin), Jean Yves Joanin (Le Cagnard), and Michel Rostang (Michel Rostang).

Before taking this position two months ago, he was the executive chef for three years at Cafe des Artistes. I sat down for a coffee with Didier to learn more about him and his new classic, yet contemporary menu.

Why did you become a chef?
I was interested in food from a young age. When I was quite young I would sit on a wooden stool and watch my Aunt cook for the family during summer vacation. When I was around 8 she began to teach me things, beginning with desserts. My specialty was yoghurt cake with homemade jam; it got better each year. When I was 14-15 I was making a lot of pastry dishes at home and this increased my interest even more.



My parents also influenced my interest in food as they are both good cooks. I grew up by the sea and they would cook lots of seafood dishes.

When I left school at 17 I sat down with my parents to talk about what I wanted to do and told them I liked to cook. They found a cooking school which I attended for two years.

Who do you regard as your mentor, or the most influential chef that you have worked for?
They were all mentors in some way as I learnt different things from each of them. I guess I learnt the most from Joe Rostang, although it was a tough experience and long hours, and he was part of the previous generation of chefs who physically and mentally abuse staff. He taught me about respect for the food.

What is your ambition?
My longterm goal is to have my own place again, a restaurant where I can do what I want, cook what I want, be out among customers and not in the kitchen all the time. With a small team of people who I call friends. A place where I develop a close relationship with customers and can please their demands. Hopefully in a hot country, by the sea so I can go swimming every afternoon. Before that I would like to travel more and work in Japan, Australia and India.



My immediate ambition is getting La Brasserie the way that I want it, getting the team used to my style and attracting regular customers to the restaurant. French cuisine is not that popular in Hong Kong as many people think it is small portions of heavy, rich food that is expensive. That is not my style. For example I reduce sauces to thicken them I don’t add flour and butter, and while I do use some butter and cream I am from Provence so I mostly use olive oil.

I have introduced a new menu, and each month we will also have a multi-course set menu promotion based on a certain ingredient, for example in July it is lobster, August it will be duck. And each week I will change the set-dinner menu and the set lunch changes daily. We will also host wine dinners; the next one is in October. I encourage diners to call me out from the kitchen, I will sit down with them, perhaps have a glass of wine, and will listen to what they want to eat and then I will make recommendations.

Describe your culinary style.

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Here at the La Brasserie I have created a menu that consists of 50 per cent classic, traditional French dishes, and the other half of the menu will focus on modern French dishes. 

Which of the new dishes do you think will become signatures?
Definitely a foie gras dish, I have developed a three-way foie gras dish but am playing around with a five-way dish. This would involve a terrine with sauterne, pan-seared with porcini, cooked in red wine and spice, smoky grill, and a creme brulee with orange skin – the acidity of the fruit cutting through the fattiness.

The restaurant also has a very traditional French Duck Press so I have created a duck dish done three ways. I will be doing Canard a la Rouennaise (duck in blood sauce) inspired by the dish of the same name that has been served in La Tour d'Argent (Paris) for hundreds of years. I will also prepare a dish that will be similar to shepherd’s pie, and finally thinly sliced duck, salted with crispy dry figs; it will be simple but very good.

I also expect the traditional fisherman’s style Bouillabaisse and the Seafood Stand with French produce to be popular.

What makes a great menu?
A balance of dishes and variety, and not too many flavours in one dish – 3-4 is enough. Nothing too weird. Also, respecting the cooking style, for example the importance of resting a steak before serving.
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A good selection of desserts, at least 10. Plus, colourful presentation and the use of fresh herbs to finish a dish; I particularly like chervil. 

What inspires you?
The local wet markets…the colour and variety of produce inspires me to create something new with the produce I get from France. For example sea urchin, which I used to create a sauce for my salmon and scallop dish. I am not inspired everyday, some days I can come up with lots of new dishes and other times it can take days before I am inspired again.

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When I am creating new dishes I work on them until they are right.

Which restaurant (anywhere in the world) would you like to eat at but haven’t?
That is not an easy question to answer. I have heard good things about L'Atelier de Joel Robuchon in Tokyo. Perhaps El Bulli because of the new creations using methods that I have not learnt and to see what can be done with food beyond the classics.

But, I also enjoy the little village restaurants run by ‘grannies’ in France because you know the food is always going to be very good. Street food is another experience I enjoy and often eat it in Hong Kong; I once had an excellent fish head in black bean sauce on the street.

And, of course eating at Michelin-starred restaurants is something I like to do too.

What is your favourite comfort food?
Toast or French bread with my grandmother’s homemade jam and honey from the town in France where I am from. I also enjoy Cenovis, the Swiss version of Marmite. To go with it I would drink hot chocolate.

What is your philosophy?
To use fresh produce of high quality and to treat it with respect. Hygiene in the kitchen is also very important to me.

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I also do what mentors have taught me, which is to teach others what I have learnt. Teaching is very important; it will take time for my team to understand French food, like learning any new cuisine, but in time my team will be able to cook French food like a Frenchman.

by Vicki Williams
July 2008

Didier’s Recipe
Poached Lobster Salad with Marinated Vegetables and Truffle Oil
1 lobster
1 soup spoon salt
½ soup spoon pepper
3 soup spoons olive oil
1 soup spoon lemon juice
1 soup spoon of chopped chives
1 yellow squash
1 zucchini
1 soup spoon truffle oil
1 handful of fresh mixed herbs (chervil, basil, mint, Italian parsley, coriander)

Poach lobster in boiling water with salt and pepper for 10 minutes. Allow to cool and remove lobster meat. Marinate lobster in olive oil, lemon juice, and chopped chives. Slice the vegetables and pan sear in olive oil, salt and pepper for a few minutes. Remove and drizzle with truffle oil. To plate, arrange the vegetables and lobster on the plate and place herbs in the middle, and drizzle a little olive oil on top of herbs.  

La Brasserie,
Lower Floor,
Gateway, Harbour City,
Tsim Sha Tsui
2113 0888