Anyone who has endured a disappointing meal in France recently and wondered if chefs there are trading on a reputation they no longer deserve has found an unlikely ally in the country’s trade and tourism minister. “French gastronomy has been facing the rise of foreign gastronomy since the end of the 1990s and has been outstripped by the performance and influence of other countries,” Olivia Grégoire admitted.
“It would be a mistake to rest on our laurels and we are going to reassert our pre-eminence,” she added as she unveiled a government plan to encourage France’s most promising young chefs to learn from the best — by heading abroad, including, quelle horreur, to the UK.
Those words must have stuck in her throat like a
