caveman cook

Francis Mallmann’s gloriously primitive approach

It’s 4am and still dark in the napa Valley. In a fold of the surrounding hills, by the light of small fires, a team of men are hard at work. some are lugging chopped wood, bags of sand and metal contraptions; others are constructing a dome from strips of metal. the hoots of owls answer the crackle of flames. the only other light comes, smoke-filtered, from a slice of moon. the scene looks vaguely apocalyptic.

‘¡ Hola!¡ Bondía!’ comes Francis mallmann’s cheery greeting.

Chef, restaurateur, pyromaniac, netflix sensation and incandescent Renaissance man, mallmann is one of south america’s most famous exports. His restaurants span the americas, France – and soon london.

argentinian-born mall mann is among the world’ s most sought-after private chefs. today his team are preparing an open-air lunch for guests of Harlan Estate, the pre-eminent California nw in ery. Owner Bill Harlan emerges from the darkness. ‘today is the soft launch of Promontory, our new wine,’ he says. soon, chicken carcases, a whole boned lamb, a side of beef and a sea bass are trussed up and hanging above fires, to cook very slowly.

Every year mall mann fields some 150 requests to cook privately. People track him down: the rich, the famous, the titled and the entitled. His blend of creativity, romance and daring can transform lunch or dinner into a nailbitingly exciting experience. Whether cooking for two or for 2,000, he charges the same fee. He says that one in 20 requests proceed.

mallmann’s style seems simple: everything is cooked on open fires, ideally in locations free from distractions such as grid electricity and plumbing. His dec or is the great outdoors, and his

‘Heated fast, meat tightens and dries; slowly, it keeps its juices, tenderises, caramelises’

soundtrack, the shrieks of wild animals. Yet it’s all underpinned by a wealth of experience and a spicing of irreverence. It makes fire-safety officers wake screaming in a cold sweat.

Fire, Mall mann’ s favourite ingredient, is delivered directly, indirectly, from above and below, via ashes, in pits and from‘ the dome ’. For the Harlan feast the chef has shipped in one ton of ironmongery. Another requirement is patience. Much of his food takes as long as nine hours to cook. ‘Meat is muscle,’ he explains .‘ Heated fast, it tightens and dries; slowly, it keeps its juices, tenderises and caramelises.’

If Mallmann’s food is simple, little else in his life has been. At 13, he left home, later travelling to the US to commune with West Coast hippies. After living off carpentry, termite extermination and sea weed husbandry, he returned to Argentina to open a restaurant. In 1980, he wrote to every three-Michelin-star chef in France begging for stages. After three years of being screamed at in French, he emerged a true believer in haute cuisine. ‘I became an elegant chef,’ he says, wincing.

At a dinner in Buenos Aires for Cartier, the head of the company approached and said, ‘I’ve just had one of the most disgusting meals of my life. The menu is writ ten in French, but really your food is not French at all.’

Stung, Mallmann began to explore the food of Argentina, and then ditched French cooking altogether. Trading toque for beret and ‘fine dining’ for the rusticity of Argentine staples, he lit a bonfire under those culinary vanities. Today, a father of six children with four women, he lives on an island in a lake in

‘Comfort zones are not creative. I have lived on the edge of uncertainty’

Patagonia, but travels continually. His conversion into a culinary caveman has met with both idolatry and repudiation. ‘Comfort zones are not creative,’ he says, smiling. ‘I have lived on t he edge of uncertainty.’

The Mall mann way demands strategy, logistics and matches .‘ Get everything ready first. Buy good ingredients. Choose your wood. Cook fast or slow? Use the plan cha or the grill for fast; ashes or the dome for slow. If I had only one piece of equipment, it would be a half-grill half- plancha.’

Lunch guests arrive to champagne and empanadas. Soon the valley is abuzz. Mallmann has swathed two large tables in 200- year old linen bought from Guinevere Antiques in London. They are set with lemon-filled bowls from As tier de Villatte in Paris, and giant glass flagons. The post-apocalyptic building site has been transformed.

‘The purpose of good food is better conversation,’ says Mallmann, ‘and decor is almost more important than food.’ At a ‘gastronomic competition’ in Frankfurt, he ‘decorated’ the table using potatoes. And won. At a lunch for Guy Ritchie (from which David Beckham posted a video of himself posing inside the flaming dome ), Mall mann plonked clods of earth and grass on the table. ‘I have outbursts of inspiration.’

As the Napa and Silicon Valley elites tuck into salt-crusted salmon, grilled sea bass, whole roast lamb, and dome- cooked rib-eye and chicken, washed down with wine, Bill Harlan nods. ‘Most people want a fancy event. This way gives it a soul.’

I ask Mallmann if t he world ‘gets’ him. ‘Finally, yes,’ he says. ‘Thomas Keller [owner of The French Laundry] is sending chefs over to learn cooking on fires! It is a process of exploration. I have much to prove.’

As lunch finishes with ‘nine-hour-roasted peaches’ and Armagnac, guests write down their thought sons lips of paper from Armorial Paris. Over the shoulder of Francis Ford Coppola, I read, ‘ ESPER ANZA’ – ‘HOPE’. Francis Mallmann’s book, Mallmann on Fire (Artisan, £31.99), is available for £25 with free p&p from the Telegraph Bookshop (0844-871 1514; books.telegraph.co.uk)