Dominique Crenn visiting Western Australia for Gourmet Escape
Dominique Crenn, on her first visit to Australia for Gourmet Escape, pleads for a nicer, more unified world.
For Dominique Crenn, an American culinary success story who was raised in France, the title of World’s Best Female Chef has proven a mixed blessing.
Crenn, whose restaurant Atelier Crenn in San Francisco has two Michelin stars, was given the title by the organisation behind the controversial World’s 50 Best Restaurants list earlier this year.
She is one of a dozen international chefs and food celebrities who flew into Western Australia this week to be part of the annual circus that is the Margaret River Gourmet Escape, an event financially supported by the West Australian government.
“When I got the news of this wonderful award I was trying to be quite reflective about how I was going to welcome the distinction,” says Crenn in her still strong French accent over a cafe au lait on the terrace at Wills Domain, the Yallingup restaurant and winery where she is collaborating with chef Seth James for her signature dinner tonight.
“I talked to the people at World’s 50 and I said, ‘you know me and you know I’m very vocal about a lot of things, and I think the conversation needs to happen.’
“So for me to receive it was a platform to continue to discuss what is going on in the industry. Personally, I think a chef is a chef — their gender is irrelevant. When it comes to this craftsmanship, it’s the same thing.”
Crenn was raised in Versailles and Brittany but turned to cooking in the United States and has subsequently received considerable acclaim. This is her first visit to Australia.
“I hope it gives inspiration to others,” she says of the title. “Whether they are male or female. It’s not a boys’ club any more. I’d like to think that people vote regardless of the name. I’ve been very lucky. That’s why I’m here.”
Crenn describes herself as neither French nor American — “I don’t have any nationality or religion — I’m just a human being that lives in America but I’m a person of the world” — but says she is saddened by the aftermath of president-elect Donald Trump’s electoral victory.
“I think it’s sad to see what is happening in the US, that people don’t think for themselves,” she says “that they want to go back to a dark place.
“Maybe it’s a wake-up call for the world. I hope so. It’s scary and even in California, which is like another world, it’s important to stay together and fight together for what is right.”
As well as a series of high-end lunches and dinners over four days, the consumer focus is on the Gourmet Village at Leeuwin Estate winery for both days of the weekend with cooking demonstrations, samplings, music, drinking and eating.
As is usual for these sorts of events a series of forums discussing gastronomic matters will be held throughout the weekend.
This year’s headline attractions, in terms of star power anyway, include British femme fatale of the television kitchen Nigella Lawson, and the avuncular seafood guru Rick Stein who spends so much time in Australia he may as well have permanent residency anyway.
Less familiar, but no less feted in the foodie world, is first-time visitor to Australia Joan Roca, the Spanish chef whose restaurant El Celler de Can Roca is currently number one on the controversial World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. His compatriot Andoni Luis Aduriz, of Mugaritz in Basque Spain, is equally renowned. Others adding a European accent to the Margaret River district include Mauro Colagreco, from Mirazur restaurant in France, and the world’s second most famous Slovenian woman (after Melania Trump), chef Ana Ros.