‘Good France Qatar,’ a beautiful symbol of Qatar-France ties: Envoy
FOURTEEN restaurants and 17 chefs, including renowned Qatari chef Noof al Marri, are joining this year’s edition of ‘Goût de France/Good France’ in Qatar which will take place from October 14 to October 22.
Goût de France/Good France 2021, on its sixth edition, is an international initiative which celebrates the French gastronomy. It is an initiative of the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs and Alain Ducasse, one of the world’s most decorated chefs.
In a press conference held on Monday, French Ambassador to Qatar HE Jean-Baptiste Faivre announced that the gastronomic event this year will highlight the cultural and culinary heritage of Centre-Loire Valley Region following Nouvelle-Aquitaine and Provence. The region is famous for its goat cheese, apple pie, castles and beautiful green surroundings.
Aside from the regional focus, he added, the programme will focus on sustainable cuisine and respectful treatment of natural resources building on the French commitment to environment.
“Every year, we are celebrating French gastronomy and its values in more than 150 countries across the five continents. Goût de France/ Good France is a way to promote French cuisine and, more globally, France as a pioneer tourism destination. Goût de France is a worldwide operation, which aims at gathering chefs, restaurants and all the ecosystem of gastronomy around a specific topic. The topic changes every year,” the envoy said.
The new edition of the initiative has appointed the twoMichelin-star chef Christophe Hay as this year’s ambassador. Christophe was recently named “Chef of the Year 2021” by the Gault & Millau restaurant guide in recognition of his commitment to local, sustainable and inclusive gastronomy.
In Qatar, Ambassador Faivre stressed that the embassy wants the event to be part of its commitment to stronger bilateral relationships between France and Qatar.
He said a few Qatari flavours will be introduced in the programme this year.
“I think this event is a beautiful symbol of the very good relationship that France has with Qatar. I am very happy that this relationship is continuing to improve. We have very good dynamic relations and I am happy that this translates as well into cultural field and today in the gastronomy field,” the envoy said.
He added, “My mission here is to continue to reinforce the relationship between our two countries in all the fields. The relationship between France and Qatar is very good but I am sure it can be even better and stronger.”
The celebration of French cuisine in Qatar will be marked with series of events, including inclusion of Gout de France special set menu in participating restaurants during the Gout de France week.
In addition, Chef Thomas Vatar, the chef of the ambassador’s residence, and Chef Noof will be working together to offer a Qatari French Menu designed exclusively for the Goût de France/Good France special gastronomic dinner that will take place in November. While the French Institute of Qatar will be launching this month a web series entitled: L’Instant Sucré (sweet moment).
Ambassador Faivre added, “The French cuisine is one of the key assets of the French culture which is, of course, very rich. There is no doubt
that there are a lot of people who enjoy visiting France also because of the cuisine. I am very happy that we can celebrate it in Doha in the coming week.”
The list of participating chefs also includes Jean-luc Vasseur (La Cigale by Accor), Lahcen Bimadarne (Mercure by Accor), Sergio Del Castillo Mora (Mondrian by Accor), Bulent Canbolat (Westin), Kamal Mers (Park Hyatt), Marc Fery (Intercontinental Doha), Bugra Keles (Marriott JW), Stephane Buchholzer (Marriott Marquis), Stavros Chatziantoniou (Mandarin Oriental), Glynn Trollip (Ritz Carlton), Backiaraj Vellingiri (Grand Hyatt), Philippe Duc (In Q Enterprise-Ducasse), Fevzy Unlu (Hilton Doha), Jonathan Howes (Crowne Plaza Airport), and Christian Boudard (Pierre Herme).