Martin Lange // Photo credit: Stephane Mouchmouche / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP
modified to
8:14 p.m., April 30, 2024
D-86 before the Games. This Tuesday morning, Sodexo Live! presented the athletes’ restaurant. A giant canteen located in the large nave of the Cité du cinéma in Saint-Denis and managed by the French specialist in collective catering. And as a preview, Europe 1 was able to taste the dishes that will be served there.
“We train too.” And Charles Guilloy is going to need it. For two months, he will be the chef of the largest restaurant in the world with 3,500 seats, open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day for the 15,000 athletes in the Olympic village for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Highlight French culinary art
And this chef has developed more than 500 recipes and among them, there is “a lemon chickpea hummus with roasted sweet potatoes with a chimichurri condiment,” he explains. Behind her shoulder, Carole Galissan, dietitian, keeps an eye on things. “The veal blanquette for example, I only asked him to be a little careful with the sauce, to lighten it a little. I wasn’t just the bad guy since there are also Paris-Brest, lemon tarts…”, lists the professional.
Delicacies as well as some dishes imagined by great chefs like Amandine Chaignot. “We took some very pretty croissants that I stuffed with artichoke puree, a poached egg and on top, to finish, we’re going to add some shavings of truffles. The idea is still to represent know-how and French terroir”, explains Amandine Chaignot.
Star chefs present in the village like Alexandre Mazzia, with three stars to his credit. Before putting on the apron, he was a top basketball player and very excited at the idea of meeting NBA stars. “A little Kevin Durant or a Stephen Curry, my eyes sparkle,” hopes the chef. Opening of hostilities on July 12, two weeks before the opening ceremony.