Dominique Dalcan
Arts visuels
Le Clandestin
Performance culinaire
A non-profit restaurant
(with italian artist Ivo Bonacorsi, french artist Dominique Dalcan and french design- producer Francis Fichot)
Le clandestin: a soup is a soup…. (a non-profit association of food and joy and resistance…)
Extrait du manifesto:
Le Clandestin cuisine mais il ne fait pas de Eat-art, et il aimerait qu’on appelle une soupe une soupe. L’équipe du Clandestin fait de la cuisine et basta, (merci a eux!) et il répondra à toutes vos questions sur le glissement progressif de la bouffe vers son aspect esthétique. Les autres font de l’image et nous on coupe des légumes, et on surveille les cuissons. Comme vous ne demanderez pas à votre motte de beurre dans le frigo si elle aimerait être exposée dans une galerie (peut être après cette expérience), ni à une betterave de vous renseigner sur l’évolution des prix de l’Expressionnisme allemand, et quand vous avez envie d’un curry vous allez simplement dans un resto indien et pas au musée d’art moderne…
Vous avez de bonnes raisons de goûter à notre cuisine. Vous serez donc à notre table (chaotique mais efficace!) pour dîner, pas pour un happening ni une performance. Si vous trouverez ça bon ou beau tant mieux, vous pouvez prendre des photos pendant le repas, à des fins exclusivement documentaires. Nous on trafiquera autour en cuisine et on esquissera quelques discours pointus ou délirants aux fourneaux. Vous pouvez vous amuser à voir le clandestin au boulot en sachant qu’ils font ça chez eux…
et tous les jours.
Le concept est simple et clair, ou trop simple ou trop conceptuel The talent coming uninvited, Chance is a rule and the chaos an opportunity… Entre la bonne bouffe et la cuisine moléculaire nous on sait pas, franchement quoi choisir et on ne choisira pas. Amenez vos couverts, une serviette, une tasse, 3 assiettes, cuillère, fourchette et couteau d’époque, en argent ou design comme vous voulez, mais vous ne choisirez pas vos voisins de table.
L’intérêt dans tous ça ? à vous de nous le dire, mais please pas pendant le dîner.
Bonne dégustation.
polaroid by Ivo Bonacorsi
︎ clandestindeparis
Parisian Blind Date (review article)
As I step out of the gritty freight elevator into a sprawling loft of black furry furniture and
trompe l’oeil artwork, a svelte maîtresse d’hôte greets me, pulls me close and whispers
some French into my ear. that only hear the words “expérience”, “clandestinité” and
“risque”.
The apartment is in the fashionable 14 th district. This isn’t
some dubious movie shoot: it’s my Thursday dinner. I sit down and the table, very while
tablecloth. To my left is an up-and-coming sac-a-main’s designer, to my
right a vixen of a young French actress. Ornette Coleman’s squealing bebop sax is
streaming out of Dominique’s iPod.
I peek into the kitchen, where the chefs Francis, Ivo et Dominique – designer’s
producer, painter and musician, at least by day jobs – are peering together into the oven a
casserole.
We’re all here to experience the diners clandestins of a Francis, Ivo and Dominique,
a triumvirate of artist-chefs who host exclusive, invitation-only dinners
in 2006 after attending the BANDISTA dinner party put on by French fashion designer
Matali Crasset. They pick a location they fancy – a restaurant for its terrace views, say, or
an art gallery for its great vibe – and arrive at the kitchen squat and set up.
The first appetiser is a spicy Vichyssoise, picked bec been Marcel Duchamp’s favourite
dish as a child. Bologna-born Ivo explains, “We go to the marché, then decide. If we
catch sight of some beautiful porcini or seppia at a Paris market and are inspired at that
moment to cook it, we go with it.” Tonight, they’ve prepared xxx
And the three chefs have a Vuitton rolodex that many would kill for, regularly getting
tips, suggestions and recipes from the likes of sommelier Cyril Bordadier of Verre Volé,
baker Christophe Vassuer of Du Pain et des Idées, and gastronomique journalist to the
stars Frederick Grasset-Hermé.
And that is just what these soirées clandestins offer: give this is just the opportunity to
mix with a decidedly hip Parisian small-crowd, a few famous faces – film producers,
entrepreneurs and musicians, among others – and artists and designers.
Even the selection of people is a very organic process. They’re friends, friends of friends
and people who contact them directly via their MySpace page. “When someone contacts
us saying they want to set up a soirée for some friends, if we feel there’s a sort of
chemistry, then we make it happen."And what if that someone wanted to source a 1978
Montrachet? “Look, we’re artists – we’re open to everything.”
At times, they’ve been contacted by people wanting to organise a clandestin group dinner
for some friends and colleagues, “People come here because they trust us – as artists, as
people. But of course,” and then Ivo smiles, “we’re open to good ideas. It all comes down
to energy: if it just feels right when people contact us, we’ll put something together for
them.”
Despite its reputation for being ridiculously steadfast in its traditions, French cuisine has
long had its revolutionary streaks – most recently in movements such as La Jeune Cuisine
and Le Fooding, which have sought to wrangle French cooking out of the grasp of the
hallowed Michelin-starred elite and return it to those who invented it: les peuples.
It’s this core social experience that they’re hoping to bring back to dining. “You know,
we love two things about this: preparing really great food and watching a group of people
get to know each other while they eat it.” Tousle-haired young Ivo sits back in his chair,
his apron bespattered with xxxbright acrylic paints, his eyes gleaming. “It’s
unpredictable, but that’s all part of the game.” He turns and gazes out of his window to
the Parisian streets below. “They’re like a blind date, our little clandestins.”
Bon appétit. Just be prepared to wait: the waiting list is longgguuee!