It is a small confidential workshop, hidden in the 11th arrondissement of Paris. Open every day of the week, Thierry Marx and his collaborators come here to work, write, create, experiment. “There we put all our memories, all our wishes”, sums up the starred chef.
There are two large samurai armors, a collection of sabers that he restored himself, and a series of works by the visual artist Mathilde de l’Ecotais, his partner. They are works printed on metal or stretched canvas, made with the reflection of the sun. Everything in this workshop is zen, like his chef.
He is a Shinto Buddhist and spirituality is a big part of his life. “To become a leader and a business leader, you have to maintain verticality, be able to move forward and not copy what is around you.” As a child, however, Thierry was a far cry from today’s Zen chef: “I got into the business by breaking and entering,” he says.
From pastry chef to cook, passing through the army
It all started with judo. The practice of this Japanese martial art gives it an “educational framework”. When he left school, he crossed paths with a baker and joined Les Compagnons du Devoir, a movement that trains young people in apprenticeship-based traditional trades. He earned his pastry CAP in 1978. Upon returning from military service he decided to pass his patent, then his baccalaureate. His revenge on his younger years. Finally, he trained in several great kitchens: Ledoyen, Taillevent, then Rebuchon…
His talent was discovered, he was entrusted with the kitchens of the main foreign hotels, history was in motion. But what crystallizes his current identity lies in his meeting with Raphaël Haumont, a research chemist, in Paris-Saclay. It was between 2004 and 2006 when they developed their passion for molecular cuisine together.
In his kitchens, “it’s quiet,” he says. This is also described by his collaborators and his employees during the “colleague survey”. Once a year, colleagues describe their work environment anonymously. “We have a very inclusive management, he explains, I am hard with the facts and benevolent with the people.” His social commitment does not stop at the borders of his kitchens… For some time now, he has spread throughout the sector.
In October, Thierry Marx was effectively elected, with more than 70% of the vote, president of the UMIH, the union of trades and industries of the hotel industry. “I changed circles when I got there,” he says. In this term, he will face three major projects. In the first place, the external and internal communication of the organization. Then, the attractiveness of the sector. A big part when you know that there are currently 200,000 job openings in the hotel and catering industry. And finally, what seems most important to him: the social impact of “our professions”.
“It’s one of my fights”
During his campaign, he promised to offer health mutuals “worthy of the name” to the sector, “it is one of my fights,” he proudly declares. Reflecting on and reducing the environmental impact of the profession is also part of his projects within the union. But his commitment does not end there: since he took office, he has called for the simplification of the legalization procedures for foreign workers. “One day they’re legal, the next they’re not, but they’ve been there for years,” he says. The sector currently employs 19% of foreign workers.
Chef, forerunner of molecular cuisine, fourth dan in judo, president of the UMIH, Thierry Marx wears several hats and skillfully juggles between each one. The man who says he is “viscerally attached to Paris”, his hometown, now has only one dream: to win a third star thanks to molecular cuisine.
Source: BFM TV
