It’s one of the best decisions of my life, I don’t regret it at all. I was heading off into the unknown after eight years in the same place. RTBF had already contacted me for the first time six years ago, I thought it was a joke and it was not the right time.
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Do you have carte blanche at RTBF?
If you have to prepare something with sheets, a text, reminders, etc., you forget about me straight away. I’m different from others: I’m not told what I have to do, I’m given a guideline, and then I operate on instinct. When Eric Monami came to get me, he was well aware and that’s what he wants.
There are plenty of cooking shows out there, how do you stand out?
You have to stay yourself. The luck I have is that I have a particular style. I am quite frank, quite direct. If someone puts glue on my loom, I manage to bounce back. It never existed, a media cook in the Ardennes. All that makes a difference and I’m still here.
“The Ambassadors”, “Le 8-9”, “We are not pigeons”… Do we still have time to cook?
I decided to stop at Arlon because I felt like I was starting to botch some things. I was faced with a dilemma: do I delete things to be available on RTBF knowing that the media side can be ephemeral or do I continue at the risk of failing on the media side and the professional side ? I said to myself too bad, I will always be able to bounce back like I always did. I made the decision to really stop working in the kitchens because I no longer found myself there and I wanted to enjoy it too, to take my daughter to school in the morning. Accumulating everything, I knew how to do it but that meant getting up at 6 a.m. and coming home at 11 p.m. six days a week with the 7th day when I sleep and enjoy my daughter a little.
However, you have embarked on a project at the Gare du Midi…
The project was born when I was still in Bastogne. I sign the menu and there is a full team to cook. I am there as an expert. There are lots of things like that that I do, it allows me to still keep control of something. My dream of a Michelin-starred restaurant has completely vanished some time ago. But I know that one day, I will have a restaurant “La table de Julien” and that I will have one star. I will be all alone, there will be no one else, that is clear and clear. I don’t want to associate with anyone anymore.
The experience of T’Char restaurant with Thomas Meunier in Bastogne did not go well?
What happened with Arlon and Bastogne is part of my history, I will never deny it. It’s a life situation that everyone knows: I could no longer do my job properly so I had to make a decision.
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Is a restaurant all by yourself possible?
Of course. I will have a table of 12 people. I will cook in front of them freestyle with my stove. There may only be 4 people who know each other out of the 12 but that’s the goal: to bring something new and for people to come for me and my cuisine and for them to come and live an experience.
Is having a star more complicated now?
It’s more complicated to pick up now, because you have to respond to lots of characters, know a few people. There are lots of things. I know I won’t have it But if I believe strongly, something can happen. I’m incredibly lucky and I’ve also had problems. There are a lot of people who would have been hanged by now. Fortunately, I am the son of independent workers and have experienced complicated situations. Otherwise, I don’t think I would be in this world anymore.
How do we manage to forget that we are the sons of independent automotive workers?
I’m the first generation in the kitchen and since I was little, I’ve only talked about it. I don’t like cars. I tried for two years but I wasn’t having fun like I’m having now. It’s funny because before, I was the Lapraille son of the garage because my parents are known in the region. Now, it’s Julien Lapraille’s parents in the kitchen. One of my cousins has a huge building near the highway and everyone thinks it’s my kitchen.
Is it still possible to eat healthy, good and local food at a fair price?
Yes, the supermarkets have now taken the lead and have shelves of local artisans. We have to stop spitting on supermarkets, we need them. The advantage of being directly on the farm is that you save a step: you don’t go through the supermarket. You win. Financially, we can do it. I’m not saying it’s cheaper but it’s not that much more expensive.
What’s the recipe you can’t make?
What I hate is andouillette. I wouldn’t know that though, I went to school in France for a year. I smelled it, I tried to taste it. I can’t understand how anyone can eat this, it’s strong. And I tried again a few years ago with a producer but impossible. Everything else is no problem, but the andouillette is no problem. I will never criticize anyone’s culinary choices but there are some things I won’t do. I have a little trouble putting pineapples on pizza. Putting a drink in a dish where you no longer feel the taste is a bit limiting for me too.
Are you skipping fast food?
Of course I’m going. Everyone does it, even three-star chefs find themselves in fast food restaurants. When they’ve had a drink and it’s late, that’s the best remedy.
Home chef has had his little success, is it definitely over?
Every 15 days, I am asked. I did that for 12 years and it left an impression on people. It was a full house, I was sold out a year in advance at the end. Covid made me stop earlier than expected. I would dream of doing it again but physically it is not possible and I no longer want to run around everywhere starting at 5 a.m. in the morning. But we will be able to find me at one-off events, it is in preparation. With Eric Boschman, we are going to offer Valentine’s Day with us. I will cook at his house for 12 people. Depending on people’s feedback, we will possibly re-offer the formula at other times.
When we see you on TV, you look very freestyle, whereas cooking is something quite square…
Media cooking and professional cooking are different. I learned to refine my media cooking and my restaurant cooking. When we came to eat at my restaurant in Bastogne, it wasn’t what we found on TV. It was not possible. I have popular media cuisine and restaurant cuisine that I have from my experience in starred restaurants.
Restaurant, gourmet walks, TV and radio… Do you still have a lot of things left to accomplish?
I still have three goals to achieve: open “La table de Julien” with a star, I always said that I would have my daily show and I would like to make films.
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