Dining with legendary chef Christian Le Squer at Danang's La Maison 1888

French chef Christian Le Squer reveals the challenges behind maintaining Michelin-starred restaurants on opposite sides of the planet. By Carolynne Dear

Chef Christian Le Squer divides his time between Le Cinq in Paris and La Maison 1888 in Danang

Celebrated French chef Christian Le Squer is dressed down in tee-shirt and running shorts when I sit down to meet him in Danang, Vietnam. He tells me he’s off for a gym session once our interview is concluded. Commuting regularly between Paris and Vietnam, he has developed a strict routine to manage the time difference and the jet-lag and keep him at the top of his game.

“Physically, it’s a demanding profession,” he tells me through a translator (he speaks little English and my French is not quite fluent enough to decipher the intricacies of Michelin-level cuisine). “Keeping fit enables me to do my job to the best of my ability.”

Discipline is important for Le Squer, who has maintained an impressive three-Michelin-star status at Le Cinq at Paris’ Four Seasons George V Hotel for more than two decades, and has now branched out to become consultant chef at La Maison 1888, the only Michelin-starred restaurant in Danang.

La Maison is set within the grounds of the sprawling five-star InterContinental Sun Peninsula Danang property, a grand dining spot commanding stellar views from its terrace over the Gulf of Thailand. This is the first time Le Squer has ventured beyond his Parisian kitchens. He travels out to Vietnam around once a month, spending a week overseeing the restaurant and liaising with chef de cuisine, Florian Stein, who worked under Le Squer’s predecessor, Pierre Gagnaire. He is fastidious with detail, from kitchen to dining room.

La Maison 1888 enjoys an oceanfront position in the grounds of InterContinental Sun Peninsula Danang

“On my first evening, I dine at La Maison,” he says. “I check on everything, the service, the set-up, the wines. The next day, I start work.”

Recipes are created in Paris and then it’s up to Stein and the team to source local ingredients and pull the dishes together in Vietnam.

“On my first day, Florian and I head to the local market together, we have lunch in whichever restaurant is currently popular, then we return to La Maison.”

Maintaining Michelin-level cuisine requires an unending attention to detail and Le Squer compares his role to that of a haute couturier or perfumier. Intense research goes into every ingredient, some Vietnamese equivalents work, some don’t.

“At the end of the day, diners come to La Maison expecting French Parisian cuisine and that is what they must get,” he explains.

When he first took over at La Maison, he and his team spent the first month reproducing what they knew from Paris. But once he’d accustomed himself to the new environment, he started to experiment with local produce and the La Maison team was afforded a freer reign.

Dishes are exquisitely crafted using both local and French ingredients

“The produce in Vietnam is incredible, particularly the quality of the seafood and the sheer abundance of vegetables and herbs,” he says. “In terms of ingredients, it’s an incredibly interesting country.

“I have a great team here. Sometimes they come to me with ideas and then it’s up to me to analyse and figure out how to make them work,” he says. For Le Squer, it’s important that the cuisine is continually moving. 

“The seasonal element is interesting. Obviously heavier, winter dishes from Paris don’t work so well here.”

Further challenges have arrived in the form of humidity levels, particularly with regards yeast with the bread baking. The previous evening when I’d dined at La Maison there had apparently been issues with the flaxseed for the rolls. Le Squer admits it’s also difficult to source high quality bread flour in Vietnam. 

He has also had to reduce the salt content in his dishes to match Asian tastes (“apparently we oversalt in France”) and there has been a degree of experimentation with recipes. Vietnamese watercress turned out to be too strong and wild in flavour, so spinach was added to maintain the taste of the Paris dish. Vietnamese basil, too, was found to be much stronger than the French equivalent.

“There’s a degree of tinkering and sourcing of replacement ingredients to reproduce the taste as precisely as possible,” he says.

The main dining room at La Maison 1888; attention to detail is paramount

Dining at La Maison is a sublime experience. Each course is delivered to my crisply naped and draped table on gorgeous porcelain and glassware, with explanations from Stein. I’m invited to enjoy the Michelin Dinner Set Menu, starting with amuse bouches, moving onto Perigord black truffle and gnocchi, a gleaming plate of foie gras en galets, Parisian-style gratinee d’oignons, lamb with vegetable ravioli and Vietnamese ‘ot sung xanh’ sauce and a malt whisky and chocolate ice cream in a hazelnut crisp. As Stein conjures up delectable dish after delectable dish, Le Squer works the room, conversing courteously with the (predominantly French-speaking) clientele.

Back in France, Le Squer’s timetable is equally rigorous. He lands, he says, at 7.30am having not eaten at all on the flight. By 9.30 he is home and immediately heads out to the gym. And then he’s back at work.

Both destinations have their charms and from the main dining room at La Maison we watch a monkey swing through the trees outside as we finish our coffees and end the interview. “It’s a rare opportunity to work in a place like this,” Le Squer admits. 

InterContinental Sun Peninsula Danang is certainly a special place and ranks among the best resorts in Southeast Asia, but add-in a Michelin-starred restaurant and you’ve created something very special. A rare opportunity, indeed.

La Maison 1888, InterContinental Sun Peninsula Resort, Danang, Vietnam