The Travel Inspiration Guiding Multi-Starred Chef Anne-Sophie Pic

The world’s most decorated Michelin-starred female chef, Anne-Sophie Pic, pours the inspiration she takes from her travels into her latest culinary projects – from her next book to a forthcoming pop-up.

Holding a constellation of Michelin stars across her collection of acclaimed restaurants, Anne-Sophie Pic has garnered widespread acclaim for gastronomy that pairs French culinary principles with innovation drawing on global culinary inspiration.

“To me, it’s important to open the mind through travel so you don’t stay closed in your own sense of savoir faire,” she says. “I think it’s important to push your cultural influences and push your culinary techniques. You need to travel in the mind but also in life to discover new things.”

This global influence is evident in the menus of her restaurants in London, Paris, Lausanne, Singapore and Valence, as well as in her other culinary endeavours, which include a laboratory for culinary innovation in Valence – this drive for innovation has also led her to become an ambassador for Hublot based on their shared values.

This globally inspired approach will be more evident than ever in her forthcoming gastronomic pop-up, taking place between this October and March 2023, at One&Only Le Saint Géran in Mauritius and the past decade of inspiration-driven innovation will be reflected in her next cookbook, which is currently expected to be published at the end of the year.

For now you can try these dishes at each of the chef’s celebrated restaurants. The two-Michelin-starred La Dame de Pic London, which is set within the former Port of London Authority headquarters now home to Four Seasons Hotel London at Ten Trinity Square, offers Discovery, Journey and Voyage tasting menus bringing together multi-influence but still distinctly French dishes like heritage tomato that’s marinated with Nikka whisky, Cornwall lamb with Sakura leaves and kombu, and white millefeuille with Jasmin jelly and Tahitian vanilla.

At La Dame de Pic in Raffles Singapore, French dishes infused with local touches include the chef’s signature berlingots (pasta parcels) in the spirit of laksa and pigeon from Bresse with chrysanthemum and chamomile. “There is a spirit in Singapore and it’s very important to me to capture that spirit,” she says. “In each place, I take the time to discover the ingredients of a region and meet the producers behind them. Asia is especially inspiring for me – there are so many different cultures and cuisines to understand.”

A location that’s significant to Anne-Sophie as the destination she chose for her honeymoon 20 years ago and somewhere she’s since further explored the gastronomy of, Mauritius will be the culinary location coming into focus next in the chef’s cuisine as prepares for her pop-up at One&Only Le Saint Géran.

This temporary offshoot of La Dame de Pic will fuse her signature culinary style with typical Mauritian ingredients sourced from across the island. Diners can expect specially created Mauritius-inspired dishes such as lobster bisque that’s served in a coconut and infused with Chamarel rum.

This fascination for bringing global culinary influences into her cooking provides endless possibilities.“Before travelling I always look into which places I need to go in that destination to discover the local food. I’m always looking for a particular market or a person I’ve read something about. For me, travel is always linked to that. It’s my passion.”