Great photo. I have had the pleasure of cooking for Mr. Stewart when he dined at my restaurant Michael's Waterside. I was impressed when he stood up to be introduced, a real old school gentleman. This photo was from an event on board a ship in San Pedro, California. Chef Bocuse served his fabled Truffle Soup "en croute." Guest were instructed to dig into the puff pastry crust all at the same time and release the wonderful aroma of the truffles.
I met Chef Paul Bocuse in 1978 when he was in Los Angeles doing a dinner at l'Ermitage restaurant with Roger Verge and chef/owner Jean Bertranou . I went to a wine tasting with a French restauranteur call Jean-Claude. He introduced me to Chef Bocuse and explained that I was looking for an apprenticeship with him at his restaurant in Lyon, France. His terse response was "impossible."
Some six months later I was in Lyon, dinned at his three starred restaurant and received the same reply.
Advance to 1993 at an event called Merci Julia that celebrated Julia Child. There were some 200 chefs and 500 guests gathered under the direction of Chef Michel Richard to celebrate Julia's 80th birthday and thank her for promoting French cuisine in America. Culinary giants such as Jacques Pepin, Pierre Franey, Roger Verge, Michael Richard, Daniel Bouley were busy preparing dinner.
I was there preparing my signature dish of Cultured Abalone Chez Nous. When it came time to have a publicity photo with all the chefs, I was positioned ironically in front of Chef Paul Bocuse.
Merci
Chef Michael Hutchings
