Pierre Gagnaire

Three Michelin stars, 11 restaurants in 10 cities and another one launching this year in Berlin, legendary chef Pierre Gagnaire chats to Keya Modessa about where he likes to eat and relax during his downtime

Both my parents worked in a restaurant

called Clos Fleury, in Saint-Etienne. They led very busy lives and it was very difficult to spend time together and even family holidays were few and far between. However, every Sunday evening without fail, we would all come together for dinner and my mum would cook roast chicken and potatoes

Becoming a chef was never a choice.

I was born into the restaurant industry and, as the eldest of four children, it was always expected that this would naturally be my career. Eventually, I began to believe that I had the energy and the passion required to be a chef and found I could express myself in my cooking, but for a long time my creativity was curbed by my father. Not only was he strict, but when it came to cooking, he was set in his own ways.

The first time I went to Las Vegas was in 1973.

It was the original Vegas and a much more interesting place – back then, there was real glamour. Opening a restaurant there was not such a big accomplishment. We found a formula that works: paying homage to the Las Vegas lifestyle through the food. I’mthere three times a year and I like to eat at Le Cirque (bellagio.com). Like my restaurant, it’s right on the strip and serves beautifully cooked seafood including Dover sole and lobster.

I like spending time in southern Corsica.

I tend to go for a few days and stay at Hotel Cala Rossa (hotel-calarossa. com), which is owned by my friend. The selection of charcuterie from the mountains is wonderful as is the goat’s cheese – you can try everything from soft A Filetta to U Fiumorbu, which is best eaten on toast. You can reach the town of Porto Vecchio very easily by boat and, on the way, I usually stop off at this beautiful stretch of beach called Palombaggia; it has the clearest blue water I’ve ever seen.

I fell in love with Belle-Île in Brittany

while I was on honeymoon in 2007. It has got everything you need for a relaxing break: soft, sandy beaches, stunning cliffs and green countryside. The best bit is you can only get there by boat, which means that when the last boat leaves in the evening you’re left on your own with the locals. There is a small restaurant there called Le Contre-Quai, where the chef prepares fresh fish dishes on a daily basis. For the best crêpes in town, you can’t get better than Crêperie Chez Renée (creperie-chez-renee.fr). Try the one stuffed with orange marmalade, chocolate and Grand Marnier.

My aim is to tell a story through my food.

With my latest restaurant in Berlin’s Waldorf Astoria (waldorfastoria.com), I have the freedom to do things my way. While exploring the city, I found that it has a lot of energy, much like Seoul. People here enjoy life to the full so I have tried to bring this energy and my experiences of the city into my food