Les Echos: "Laurent de Gourcuff: "The success of a dinner party often stems from the mix of generations""

Laurent de Gourcuff at the "Baronne" restaurant (© Romain Ricard)

For real? It's all three at once. I don't know where to draw the line between the professional and the personal. My hobby is to find crazy places in Paris, with outdoor spaces, and to imagine with my team what we're going to do with them. I listed about twenty of them back in 2008, when I first started out. And "Baronne", the last one, was number 16... Paris Society is really just a collection of spots! What's more, I eat lunch and dinner every day in my spots (we have 15 clubs, 16 event venues and 25 restaurants) and I think I know what people are looking for. Seeing the faces of customers who arrive at a new venue, and especially seeing them come back, is another of my life's hobbies!

It's not a personal taste. I didn't go to hotel school, nor did I have any training in catering, but I quickly realized that you need very large venues, to amortize costs, but also with vast terraces. Why was this? Because I had anticipated the major impact of global warming and the smoking ban. From April 15 to September 15, people want to be outside. Without a terrace, you're dead.

I've never drunk alcohol, although I do sell quite a bit... And I'm not much of a dancer. But I do love to sing! That's how the "Piaf" concept was born, where customers come to dine and sing along with the pianist to the greatest hits of French chanson... In my country house, a farmhouse in Pacy-sur-Eure that I've been renovating with my wife for ten years, I've installed a karaoke machine. I sing songs by Johnny Hallyday, Michel Sardou and Jean-Jacques Goldman, of whom I'm an absolute fan.

I eat a lot! Firstly, because I'm a gourmand, and secondly because, in our homes, I want to try every dish. I love just about everything, especially sweet and savoury; Asian cuisine, too, the best for me after French. At home, my wife Constance cooks very well. We love to entertain, mixing young and old. The success of a meal at home, or in a restaurant, often stems from this mix of generations.

My absolute passion: flea markets. I hunt. I collect insignificant or historic objects. This week, I bought a barber's chair. I'm a hoarder.

I'm very attached to beautiful stones and their history. When they don't have one, we invent one! We're pretty good at that. People need to be told a story about a place. At Paris Society, as I said, we collect spots that have a story. Here, at the Hôtel Salomon de Rothschild, it's the ultimate. The same goes for Les Vaux-de-Cernay, an 11th-century abbey with a soul.

That my three children, Dimitri, Paloma and Léonard, turn up here at "Baronne", to have lunch with me unannounced. During the week, I don't see them enough.

Read the article on www.lesechos.fr

By Laurent Guez