Thierry Marx is considered an exceptional figure in the French gastronomy scene. He gives seminars in prisons, cooks for the homeless – and has now opened a restaurant on the Eiffel Tower.
From Paris by Simone Weiler
Thierry Marx speaks like a man aware of his natural authority. His voice is soft and calm and blends into the humming background music of his new restaurant “Madame Brasserie” on the first floor of the Eiffel Tower. Why this name? “The Eiffel Tower is a large iron lady, a female symbol of France,” enthuses the chef.
The carpenters who built the tower for the World’s Fair in 1889 were only familiar with working with wood. But they followed the vision and determination of one man, the engineer Gustave Eiffel, to create something entirely new using techniques already known. “Tradition and innovation went hand in hand,” concludes Marx.
He is not only talking about the construction of the Eiffel Tower almost 134 years ago. But also by the kind of cuisine he has in mind for this place. While he offers upscale creations in his two-Michelin-star restaurant “Sur Mesure” (“Made to Measure”) in the Paris luxury hotel “Mandarin Oriental”, the menu in the brasserie is simpler.
Literally it is a brewery and the French verb “brasser” also means the mixing of people from different milieus. However, “Madame Brasserie” has little to do with the bistro around the corner, which also attracts workers.
Here atop the Eiffel Tower, many tourists sit, their conversations in different languages blending into a lively murmur at lunchtime. It smells like beef.
difficult youth
In France, Thierry Marx is one of the most famous top chefs. He is a busy jack of all trades who is always working on several projects at the same time. He looks charismatic with his strong build, shaved bald head and laugh lines around his eyes. In what little free time he has, Marx practices martial arts, which he says saved him from ending up as a petty criminal.
The 63-year-old became known to the general public a few years ago as a jury member on the popular TV cooking show “Top Chef”. His personal story appeals to many because it proves that the “American dream” can also be realized in France – a country of great, often entrenched class divisions.
The grandson of Polish Jews grew up in a district in eastern Paris that is now considered hip, but was a social hotspot at the time. The family later moved to the suburb of Champigny-sur-Marne. He later described it as a “phantom city, a vague area”. The young Thierry Marx roamed the streets aimlessly. He dreamed of becoming a baker, but was unable to get an apprenticeship – his reputation was too miserable.
social commitment
After breaking off his apprenticeship as a mechanic, he trained as a confectioner and began working as a kitchen hand a few years later after serving as a paratrooper in Libya. He worked his way up alongside cooking legends like Joël Robuchon. Travels took him around the world, Sydney, Singapore, Tokyo.
From the late 1980s, Marx received his first awards. “In the beginning it was all about getting rich,” he says. But when he achieved his goal, he became interested in social and environmental issues. Wealth is all well and good – if you share it. That’s how he sees it today.
Thierry Marx has so many projects that he casually mentions them in conversation. For example, he sought exchanges with prison inmates and campaigned for training opportunities for them. Marx’s recent struggles include funding cooking and nutrition classes from elementary school onwards. He has set up training centers all over France to give prospects to school dropouts. “Today’s young people don’t just want a job that makes them live more poorly than well,” says Marx. “They want a project.”
The self-sacrificing attitude towards work that his parents had no longer exists: “Employees come to me and say: I’ll sell you a little bit of my time. For a few months, then we’ll see.”
union boss
In order for the professions in the catering and hotel industry – Marx is the president of the largest trade union Umih – to remain attractive, the industry must offer better working conditions. France is currently short of 220,000 workers. The current labor law is obsolete, says Marx: the four-day week will come.
Marx obtains all the products used in the “Madame Brasserie” from farms within a radius of less than 200 kilometers. He is spokesman for the agricultural movement “Bleu-Blanc Cœur” (“Blue and White Heart”), whose members follow clear principles regarding sustainable cultivation, animal welfare and the nutritional values of the products.
“Growth in itself is not a bad thing, but it must be done with awareness of the impact on the planet and society.” The system, he says, cannot be broken, only changed from within. Not radical, but pragmatic.
“Capitalism is efficient, but it’s not fair,” he quotes “another Marx, with a long beard,” as he says with a grin. “But you can make him fairer,” that is his opinion.