Flora Mikula
Travelling toque
By Laurent Feneau

Trained in the kitchens of the entire world, between two gourmet trips, day by day Flora Mikula invents a nomadic cuisine ; perpetual motion at the stove.

She's run the obstacle course. She's also stayed calm when told on the telephone that it is useless to want to talk to the chef because "we don't take on women here". Luckily Flora Mikula is a soldier's daughter. Hence a steel character that enabled her to wait and gain the esteem of her colleagues and even the friendship of some. One should mention that the cuisine of the great traveler of Polish extraction is unique in the way she takes the gourmet by the hand on a journey to the four corners of the earth right at the table. "Voyages are the foundation of my cooking; my father's profession gave me the possibility of moving early not to mention the holidays we systematically spent touring Europe".
A traveling childhood, studies and once again Flora is on the road, a road that leads to London where she discovers a surprising gastronomic diversity, in particular in the kitchens of the Meridien where she works under Jean-Michel Lorain. There she undertakes a host of activities that leave their mark forever and give her a taste for opening up to other culinary cultures to appropriate them and especially combine them. An incredible capacity for creating improbable encounters that will be furthered in the United States for two years working with great French chefs. "Fifteen years ago, the trend across the Atlantic was fusion, a culinary mode called "Pacific dream" that astutely combined Japanese, Mexican and American gastronomy", remembers the chef.

Come-back !
But in 1996, Flora felt the need to return to France. Her aim: "finalize my training in a great restaurant". "Alain Passard opened his door. He was interested in my profile and my experience quickly enabled me to become sous-chef. An important step in my career for Alain helped me come back to basics in cooking", she explains. It is also at l'Arpège that she met Raphaël, her husband with whom she opened "Les Olivades", her first restaurant dedicated to Provencal cooking. Although born in Nîmes, Flora finds herself quickly limited in this culinary register. So she changes heading but also banks. Her nomadic cooking crosses the Seine reaching avenue Georges V, opposite the Prince de Galles hotel; a "golden triangle" - between the Champs-Elysées, avenue Montaigne and avenue Kléber - whose color suits this wheat-blond chef.
The intimate atmosphere created in this delicious little boudoir of a restaurant called "Les Saveurs de Flora" is in perfect agreement with the playful creations of former-Miss Mediterranean cuisine. Smiling and relaxed at her oven, Flora leads her brigade of young chefs that she trained to "her style". She deploys a menu with a remainder of Provencal accents but that features something from the world over. For the "Amazon", as she is called by her colleague David Zuddas, has never given up her vagabond cooking. Back a few days ago from Japan, the chef hurries to add the final touch to her latest creation: Japanese-style sardines in a soy and sake sauce.

Synthesis in the kitchen
A touch of spice here, a few herbs there, a sweet and savory balance and to finish an unusual texture combined by Flora to create a synthesis of contemporary cooking from around the globe. But while her creativity may borrow from the five continents, the heart that beats beneath the chef's toque remains Mediterranean… "My roots stay effectively in the south, in particular Spain and Italy. For in the end, there's nothing better that a great pasta dish is there? It's also interesting to note that each country, or nearly, has its pasta specialty, even Poland" she says ironically.
But don't fall into the trap! If Flora turns to tradition and the great classics of world cuisine, it is to better move forward. It is in this direction that she works on a daily basis with the Generation C collective. "With chefs like Thierry Marx, Alexandre Gauthier, William Ledeuil or Cédric and Catherine Denaux, we are trying to take cooking forward and instill some newness into it. This involves the restaurants of course, but also the schools where we do everything we can to share our passion for our profession". In short, with her travels and temperament, Flora Mikula is at ease everywhere; in the kitchen, in the dining room, but also in the field as a militant defending and moving her profession forward. Cooking takes 150% of her time! "When I'm not cooking, I eat, it's a true hobby", she states laughing. As for projects, with Raphaël, she is working on a specific lunch concept. "The goal is first and foremost to evolve, but also to think about convenience cuisine". To be continued….

Chinese portrait
"If you were..."
..a dish
A cheese plate rather than a dish…
...a product
I love vegetables, especially asparagus
...a spice
Coriander
...a wine
Champagne
...a customer
A particularly demanding regular…

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