PORTRAIT. Chef Flore combines culture and cuisine for Rouen, European capital 2028
By Manon Loubet
Published on
“Cooking is culture that is eaten” (Simon Le Bayon). This is the credo of Flore Madelpuech, the head of the Table de Flore, restaurant located at 58 rue Cauchoise, in Rouen (Seine-Maritime), that she wrote in large letters on a wall of her establishment. On her front door, the restaurateur also displays a large poster “Rouen, European Capital of Culture 2028”. “I am a godmother and I believe in it thoroughly,” she smiles.
Culture, the common thread
In this small warm space lit by a beautiful interior terrace, Flore welcomes us with an engaging smile and an outspokenness worthy of her origins, the Southwest. At 65, she has a sense of accomplishment.
After a career combining agronomy and teaching for nearly twenty years, Flore started cooking in 2016, at the age of 59. “I have I’ve done a lot of things in my life, but the red thread is culture. When I was younger, I wanted to do Fine Arts or the Music Conservatory, but my parents didn’t want to. »
In his cozy restaurant, you can see it. Pictures painted by herself adorn the walls and her own sculptures decorate the garden. “I have spent my life as a school teacher and headmistress in taking children to places of culture is vital “, she assures. This is what she wanted to transmit to her students but also to her three sons and today her three grandchildren aged 3, 6 and 8 years old.
A kitchen for the climate
It is thanks to them but also for them that Flore Madelpuech has been transmitted in a kitchen committed to the climate. “I have a son who has been a vegetarian since he was a teenager, so I’m used to offering this type of menu. In my menu, which evolves according to what I find at the market, I always offer a vegan and flexitarian menu with low-carbon meat, mainly poultry. »
The chef is a member of the Bon pour le climat association, whose goal is to promote low-carbon catering with fresh, local, seasonal products, favoring plants and from organic farming or an agro-ecological approach.
Godmother of Rouen 2028
It is with all these ingredients that Flore Madelpuech ended up godmother of Rouen, European Capital of Culture 2028, alongside Karin Viard, Wax Taylor and Philippe Torreton. “It made me very happy when I was asked to be the godmother of Rouen 2028. I was very moved. »
Flore is committed to the Rouen 2028 team. “I’m the one who cooks for the team that prepares the big oral”, she confides. As a reminder, Rouen submits its file on January 2, 2023. The oral examination of a team of ten people will follow before a European jury.
In March 2023, the jury will have a “short list”, chosen from two to four candidate cities. Eight other cities are candidates in France: Clermont-Ferrand, Saint-Denis, Lens, Blois, Montpellier, Nice, Reims and Strasbourg. Who will win?
“The Seine is culture”
If Rouen is selected, there will then be work on the file again, the jurors will travel to Rouen and to the territory of the application. The designation of the winner will normally take place in January 2024.
The head of the rue Cauchoise firmly believes in it. ” In my opinion, it is through culture that this region will take off. The Seine is over, it’s no longer industry, it’s culture. »
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