“Goûtde France/Good France will be a chance like no other to savour some of the world’s finest gastronomy – from well-loved classics, to innovative new dishes and fusions, all of which showcase the best of French cooking today.”Sylvie Bermann,The French Ambassador to the UK
For the second consecutive year, Goût de France / Good France will celebrate French gastronomy in various locations worldwide on21stMarch 2016. Over 1000 chefs on all five continents are expected to join the event on the day of Spring. Dinners served simultaneously in participating restaurants will honour the merits of French cuisine, its capacity for innovation, and its values: sharing, enjoying, and respecting the principles of high-quality, environmentally responsible cuisine.
Taking place in over 150 countries around the world, restaurants and embassies will celebrate France’s gastronomy by inviting the public to share a “French dinner”. In each participating restaurant, the event paid tribute to a vibrant, open and innovative cuisine, while remaining true to its values of sharing, pleasure, respect for good food and for the planet.
Inspired by Auguste Escoffier, who launched the “Dîners d’Épicure” (Epicurean Dinners) initiative – the same menu, the same day, in several world cities and aimed at as many diners as possible – in 1912, Goût de France/Good France reproduces that beautiful idea with the desire to involve restaurants all around the world.Each chef offered a “French-style” menu in their restaurant with a traditional French aperitif, a cold starter, a hot starter, fish or shellfish, meat or poultry, a French cheese (or cheeseboard), a chocolate dessert, French wines and digestifs, while remaining free to highlight their own culinary traditions and cultures.
Organized on the initiative of Alain Ducasse and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, theGoût de France / Good Francewill alloweveryone worldwide to identify participating restaurants in their city/country and to book directly at the restaurant of their choice.Many chefs have already posted their menu on the Good France website, to enable everyone to imagine the dinner they savoured on 19 March. To mark the special event the international committee of chefs, chaired by Alain Ducasse, has approved the list of participating chefs, including Paul Bocuse (France), Raymond Blanc (United Kingdom), Thomas Keller (United States), Kiyomi Mikuni (Japan), Paul Pairet (China), Joël Robuchon (France), Nadia Santini (Italy) and Guy Savoy (France).
The cuisine will beaccessible to all, from bistros to exceptional restaurants,and based on fresh, seasonal and local products with lower levels of fat, sugar, salt and protein.The menu’s price isat the restaurant’s discretion, and they are all encouraged todonate 5% of proceeds to a local NGO promoting health and the environment.
In the words of Alain Ducasse:“French cuisine is the interpreter of a cuisine that has evolved towards lightness in harmony with its environment…The common point of this event is generosity, sharing and the love of what is beautiful and tastes good. It will be a delightful interlude and an opportunity to celebrate French cuisine worldwide.”
A unique opportunity to enjoy and share the taste of France, head to thegoodfrance.comwebsite to find out more.