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Argentine celebrity chef Francis Mallmann is hellbent on living a more sensual and mysterious life than you. As you read these words, he’s probably cooking a bunch of chickens on strings over open flames high up in the mountains while wearing a poncho and taking big swigs of wine — or maybe he’s doing none of those things, because you just never can tell with this guy.
Anyone who’s seen his episode of Chef’s Table knows that Mallmann is a complicated figure, who defies easy classification. But a new VinePair profile from writer Batya Ungar-Sargon sheds a bit of light on this unusual chef’s life and where he’s headed next. As it turns out, Mallmann is more interested in writing than cooking these days, and he wants to branch out into filmmaking soon. While telling his life story to Ungar-Sargon, Mallmann also drops some wonderfully weird soundbites. Here are the nine best lines:
On wine pairings...
“I believe in clashes in the mouth... I like to eat something that’s delicious and a wine that contrasts with it, and they both fight me to convince me who is the best.”
More on wine pairings...
“I think choosing a wine has to do with you, with me, with the day, with the sun, how we’re dressed, the ambiance, the spirit, you know?”
On a server who keeps explaining the dishes...
“Every time he comes, it’s so arrogant, you know, so arrogant... There’s no respect for intimacy. They are more important than us, you know?”
On some of his favorite material things...
“I love sewing... I travel with a guitar. I like painting, writing. And I love candles.”
On falling in love with hippy stuff...
“By the time I was 13, that’s what I wanted. That celebration, that feeling of change. The long hair, the nudity, the flower shirts... It was a new language of life. All the rest was gone.”
On opening his first restaurant...
“I don’t think I’m an incredible chef... When I opened my first restaurant, it wasn’t only about the cooking; it was almost more about the flowers, the candles, the celebration, the joy.”
On writing a weekly newspaper column (which is sometimes about sex)...
“I would say that the strongest drive today in my life is words... It just brings me so much joy to write that article every week.”
On his idea for a short film set in LA and Patagonia...
“It’s comparing the different strengths of fire to love.”
On creating an intriguing environment for his diners...
“It’s trying to make a question mark in their heart, to make them think: ‘What else don’t I know? What is all this?’ There must be something that they want to know and they will never know.”
• Celebrity Chef Francis Mallmann Is Over Food and Wine [VinePair]
