Paul Pairet (born 29 June 1964) is a French chef. He is the founder-partner and chef de cuisine of restaurants Mr & Mrs Bund, Ultraviolet, and cafe Polux, all located in Shanghai, China. In 2013 he was presented with the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award, in 2016 the Chefs' Choice Award, both by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants,[1][2][3] a list affiliated with the World’s 50 Best Restaurants. His cuisine is often described as avant-garde (a few press reference links at the end of the article).
Paul Pairet | |
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Biography
Pairet was born in Perpignan and studied at a hotel school in Toulouse after a scientific study background. A chef/instructor who demonstrated diffusion and biochemical reactions in cooking impressed him as a student, and he decided to become a chef.[4]
Restaurants
Pairet was first noticed by the press while helming Café Mosaic in Paris in 1998. Over the next 15 years, he also worked in Istanbul, Hong Kong, Sydney and Jakarta. In 2005, he settled in Shanghai to open Jade on 36, an avant-garde restaurant in the Pudong Shangri-La Hotel until he left in 2008.[5]
In April 2009, he opened Mr & Mrs Bund in the Bund 18 building, where has been lauded for his witty takes on bistro classics. The restaurant was ranked the 7th best in Asia[6] and the 43rd best in the world in 2013,[7] making it the first restaurant in Mainland China to be ranked on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. In 2014: No. 11 in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants,[8] and No. 76 in the world's list.[9] In 2015: No. 21 in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.[10] In 2016: No. 28 in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants.[11] Since 2016 it became one of the members of Collège Culinaire de France.
In February 2010, Pairet presented his idea for a restaurant of one table that used technology to offer an immersive, multi-sensory dining experience in public for the first time, at the OFF5 Omnivore Food Festival in Deauville, France.[12][13][14][15]
After planning and development since 1996, this idea became the restaurant Ultraviolet, which opened in Shanghai in an undisclosed location in May 2012. The restaurant’s unique concept is based on Pairet’s theory of “psycho-taste” , or the psychology and emotions associated with food. He believes that our perception of taste can be altered through engaging different senses and emotion triggers as we eat, and has been quoted as saying “Food is ultimately about emotion, and emotion goes beyond taste.”[16]
Ultraviolet was ranked the 8th best restaurant in Asia by Asia’s 50 Best Restaurants list in both 2013 and 2014,[17][18] and the 60th best restaurant in the world in 2013,[19] and the 58th in 2014.[20] In 2015: No. 3 in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants,[21] and No. 24 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants.[22] In 2016: No. 7 in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants,[23] and No. 42 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants.[24] In 2017: No. 8 in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants,[25] and No. 41 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants.[26] In 2018: No. 8 in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants and winner of Art of Hospitality Award, [27][28] and No. 24 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants.[29] In 2019: No. 6 in Asia's 50 Best Restaurants,[30] and No. 48 in The World's 50 Best Restaurants.[31]
On September 21, 2017, the second edition of Michelin Guide Shanghai released the result for 2018, and Ultraviolet received three Michelin stars,[32] after its two stars in the first edition. Since October 2014 Ultraviolet has been one of the members of Les Grandes Tables du Monde.[33]
In February 2017, Pairet launched a carvery The Chop Chop Club with Unïco Shanghai. Pairet featured whole pieces of meat and fish for mains, carved and served at the peak of the dishes - "released based on a nightly schedule, the names and times of which are displayed with prices and available portions on a digital screen with live updates of 'buy now' and 'sold out' statuses."[34] with "some larger pieces to be shared between different, unconnected tables"[35] or to be served as whole for an entire table. It was closed due to the closure of Unïco Shanghai in September 2018.
Pairet appeared as a guest judge in the 5th episode of Top Chef France Season 10 which was released on March 6th 2019. The contestants were given a challenge to make a dish based on Pairet's Twin Concept, a mirror dish called "Tomato Mozza And Again" which has been served at Ultraviolet.[36][37]
In mid March 2019, Pairet opened an all day dining, French cafe called Polux, in Xintiandi Shanghai.[38][39]
References
- ^ Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2013. Tim Brooke-Webb / William Reed Business Media. February 2013. pp. 8–9.
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(help) - ^ "2013 Lifetime Achievement Award - Asia - Paul Pairet". Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. William Reed Business Media Ltd. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
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(help) - ^ http://theworlds50best.asia. "Chefs' Choice Award 2018, sponsored by Estrella Damm". ASIA EN. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
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- ^ "Shanghai eatery pairs food, wine, light, sound". Reuters. 10 July 2012. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ^ Kahn, Howie (25 August 2013). "Shanghai Surprise". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ^ "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2013". Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. Retrieved 28 November 2014.
- ^ The World's 50 Best Restaurants Guide 2013. Tim Brooke-Webb / William Reed Business Media Ltd. April 2013. p. 20.
- ^ "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2014". Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. William Reed Business Media Ltd. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
- ^ "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2014: 51-100". BigHospitality. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
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(help) - ^ http://theworlds50best.asia. "Archive - 2015 List". www.theworlds50best.com. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
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- ^ http://theworlds50best.asia. "Archive - 2016 List". www.theworlds50best.com. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
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- ^ "Omnivore Food Festival Deauville 2010 - Le Film". Vimeo. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ^ Pham, Anne-Laure. "Plats trompe-l'oeil chez Omnivore (24 February 2010)". L'Express Styles. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ^ Billecart, Raphaël. "La jeune cuisine sur les planches (26 February 2010)". Le Figaro Madame. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ^ "About the Chef". Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ^ Fabris-Shi, Amy (16 October 2012). "Shanghai: Ne Plus Ultra". Destinasian. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
- ^ "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2013". Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. William Reed Business Media Ltd. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
- ^ "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2014". Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. William Reed Business Media Ltd. Retrieved 13 June 2015.
- ^ The World's 50 Best Restaurants Guide 2013. Tim Brooke-Webb, William Reed Business Media Ltd. April 2013. p. 89.
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(help) - ^ "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2014: 51-100". BigHospitality. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
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(help) - ^ "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2015". Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. William Reed Business Media Ltd. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
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(help) - ^ "The World's 50 Best Restaurants 2015". The World's 50 Best Restaurants. William Reed Business Media Ltd. Retrieved 30 June 2016.
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(help) - ^ http://theworlds50best.asia. "Archive - 2016 List". www.theworlds50best.com. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
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- ^ "Past List 2016". www.theworlds50best.com. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
- ^ http://theworlds50best.asia. "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2017: 1-50". www.theworlds50best.com. Retrieved 2018-03-27.
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- ^ "1-50 The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants 2017". www.theworlds50best.com. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
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(help) - ^ http://theworlds50best.asia. "Art of Hospitality Award 2018". ASIA EN. Retrieved 2018-04-06.
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- ^ http://theworlds50best.asia. "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2018". Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
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- ^ "The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants 2018". The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
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(help) - ^ http://theworlds50best.asia. "Asia's 50 Best Restaurants 2019". Asia's 50 Best Restaurants. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
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- ^ "The Worlds 50 Best Restaurants 2019". The World's 50 Best Restaurants. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
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(help) - ^ "Ultraviolet - Shanghai : a Michelin Guide restaurant". www.viamichelin.com. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
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(help) - ^ "5- UN CERCLE QUI S'AGRANDIT". Les Grandes Tables du Monde. Retrieved 29 November 2014.
- ^ "The Chop Chop Club by Paul Pairet". City Weekend. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
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(help) - ^ "The Chop Chop Club by Paul Pairet". Fine Dining Lovers. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
- ^ Top chef : Episode 5 saison 10 - Autre - Télé-Loisirs (in French), retrieved 2019-06-29
- ^ film&serie (2019-03-06), Top chef saison 10 épisode 05 (2019), retrieved 2019-06-29
- ^ "Paul Pairet ouvre un nouveau restaurant à Shangai baptisé Polux". Fine Dining Lovers (in French). Retrieved 2019-06-29.
- ^ "Nouvelle table - Polux by Paul Pairet - La tradition culinaire française au coeur de Shanghai". Food & Sens (in French). 2019-03-30. Retrieved 2019-06-29.