Alexandre Bourdas
In the name of food …
By Laurent Feneau

In Honfleur, everyone bows down to the unique and totally personal culinary pleasures of Alexandre Bourdas. Respect…

No one can deny that the star-filled career path of Alexandre Bourdas was most atypical… This young man from the Aveyron learned his profession with Michel Guérard and Régis Marcon before his decisive meeting with Michel Bras. As he reminisces, it was a "A shock which was both human and technical. Michel Bras is a chef who basically does cooking which he likes, it is 100% personal and this explains that when eating in his restaurant, people tend to lose all their traditional references".
Next to Michel Bras, Alexandre became head pastry chef for one year before leaving to head the kitchens of the Hôtel de Sully in Bayeux where he was quickly awarded a first star. Up to now, nothing too extraordinary, or at least nearly - except that Michel Bras was doing everything to have "his" young prodigy return to work with him. This is where the real adventure began for this chef, as, if opening a restaurant is always a great moment in a chef's life, the first experience for Alexandre was in Japan, where, in 2001, he left to open the completely new restaurant of Michel Bras! "I left to go there three months before the opening to train a team of 40 people! The first year was hard, of course, but we made it. The Toya restaurant, located on the island of Hokkaïdo has become, as expected, the exact replica of the three-star Laguiole restaurant. There are some of Michel's classics on the menu such as the Gargouillou or the Coulant au Chocolat, but also some dishes which I have created".

From Japan to Normandy…
But after three years, this man nicknamed the "Japanese Michel Bras" was worn out … "This rhythm of working at 100 miles an hour was really not what I was looking for in life. So I began preparing myself to return to France where I had numerous offers, but I finally decided on opening my own restaurant". Alexandre hesitated between Brittany and Normandy. He finally dropped his anchor in Honfleur where his only tie was the sea. And this is how the Sa.Qua.Na opened its doors in April 2006. Behind the acronym of Sa.Qua.Na (savours, quality and nature) hides the work sakana which means fish in Japanese. A concept which worked immediately: tenth months after opening he got his first star! Then various medias became interested and since 2007, this restaurant is fully booked every night.
And rightfully so …Alexandre Bourdas culinary wonders may be described as elegant and discreet but nevertheless dares to be a dazzling innovator of our palate. Let's cite, among others, the poached lobster in lime, celery and coriander leaves accompanied by a clear coconut broth or the roasted farm-raised chicken, stalks and leaves of Swiss chard with a frothy seafood broth, and not forgetting the cocoa and white chocolate nougat served with truffles and grilled chestnut paste …
But is there still a little bit of Bras and Japan in his way of interiorising the cooking to then reproduce it even more perfectly? "My cooking is, first and foremost, one which is open-minded to the whole world", answered the chef, pointing out that, "Of course I'm as rigorous as Michel Bras when I cook, just as everyday I use much of the Japanese cooking philosophy whether I'm cutting up fish or cooking vegetables".

Alexandre the Great
So that's it for his technique. As for what inspires him, Alexandre goes way back into his childhood memories. "If a product has no connection with my life, it doesn't interest me. But a new idea could also come from a simple buttered slice of bread which my grandmother would give me". And did this Japanese-Normandy chef settle down on the Côte Fleurie navigate alone, far from his previous experiences? The chef himself answered that it was more to perfect and refine his cooking on a daily basis. On the menu, there is even a rather surprising heading just called "direct" … in fact this set menu is the fruit of a long reflection on cooking, and more specifically, on the product. "The idea is to put forth a product, a way of cooking and a side dish - for example, a steamed cod, some salt and a pinch of yuzu. You can sometimes just sum-up cooking like that" explains Alexandre Bourdas.
With this approach, one can never find, even when looking well, any signs of austerity, but a subtle intertwining of the love for food and conviviality. He says, "This conviviality must be in the food presented on the plate and in the dining-room itself, so, this makes the cooking be the ultimate people link. I want to prove that when people eat, they aren't at war".
As for loving food, one needs only to look at the menu where the following may be read: "I chose cooking because I am a gourmand… the aromas, the tastes, the textures all make for unique and endearing moments of our life. Today my recipes are inspired by these gourmand and emotional times which feed my passion…". Signed, Alexandre Bourdas.

Chinese portrait
" If you were … "
- A food product: a deli meat
- A way of being cooked: Yakitori-style wood fire cooking
- A spice: Raz el Hannout
- A dish: mutton stew
- A fruit: a peach
- A wine: a Côte Rôtie
- A client: my father

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