Aby Brigitte Giraud, Prix Goncourt 2022 for her novel Live fastand Jean-Baptiste Andrea in 2023 for Watch over herit is Kamel Daoud who has just been crowned with Houris. Whoever says Goncourt Prize means, inevitably, having lunch at Drouant, Place Gaillon in Paris, where the presentation of the famous literary distinction has been held since 1914. This mecca of culinary history, Edmond de Goncourt liked to frequent it at the end of his life, after the death of his brother Jules.
Paradoxically, the two Goncourt brothers, who dined out a lot, did not love to eat, as the Swiss writer and professor of literature Robert Kopp told us last year: “They were not real gourmets or classic epicureans. . They were the sick type. […] The table remained a pleasure, but what they ate there was secondary. The most important thing for them at the restaurant was sociability. »
James Ney and the Goncourt lunch protocol at Drouant
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More than a century after their death and the creation of their academy according to the instructions left by Edmond in his will, the awarding of the Goncourt prize remains closely linked to Drouant. James Ney, its general manager, is used to the protocol and customs of this type of meal. The annual luncheon brings together ten seats for as many academicians throughout the ages. Thus, as James Ney reveals to us in the video, place number one was held by Colette or Bernard Pivot. Pascal Bruckner has been running it since 2020. Jules Renard, Louis Aragon, Hervé Bazin or, more recently, Virginie Despentes and Christine Angot have taken turns at this table. Once in the circle, the academician has his name engraved on his chair. Two places are added for the winner of the year and his publisher. And the winner signs his book, which is included in the restaurant's prestigious library, alongside all the works signed in previous years.
Romain Van Thienen, chef at Drouant: sole, partridge pie… His menu for Goncourt
Romain Van Thienen, the executive chef of Drouant, is hosting his third Prix Goncourt lunch this year. He imagined it in six services. Last year, he served, among other things, caviar, lobster and turbot. Noble products that we find on the menu this year: quiche Lorraine and caviar to start; shelling bench with lobster, shrimp, mussels, clams, almonds to follow; then sole with fish stock and Viroflay spinach; then partridge pie and game juice, before a cheese service. As a sweet finale, pastry chef Marc-Aurèle Fix has imagined a creation like an anthology of several Parisian desserts, the composition of which he reveals to us in the video. The Goncourt menu will be available at Drouant until December 15.
