For some, it was nothing less than a scandal. Restaurants that embrace three continents may be perfectly acceptable in New York, Sydney or London, but in Paris they tend to be seen as a threat.
Cuisine is, of course, central to France s national identity.
So, for Monsieur Ducasse a keeper of the kitchen flame, the most Michelin-starred chef in the world to jump from the regal realm of regional cooking to the dreaded fusion of Asian spices with a touch of Californian consciousness was to question the very soul of French cooking. It was very dangerous for me to do it, Ducasse acknowledges. I said six months ago that if Spoon doesn t work, it s too early. That is to say, the French public is not yet open enough to accept something different, to eat other than French cuisine. An even bigger controversy than submerging traditional French cooking in the kitchen was the back row accorded to French wine in the cellar.