Marcel Ravin : from the land to the plate, a committed star-awarded Chef!
- French 2 Star chef
- Executive Chef in Monaco
- Caribbean origins and Mediterranean soul
More 1 star chefs here. Other French chefs here.
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The Michelin Star awarded Blue Bay restaurant
Marcel Ravin, child of the Caribbean, took up the challenge of opening, as Executive Chef, this superb Monaco hotel facing the Mediterranean. After leaving his native island to learn the art of cooking in Alsace, Lyon and Brussels, Marcel Ravin combines the culinary style of his Caribbean origins with the treasures of the southern land and sea, so dear to the people of Monegasque.
Marcel Ravin brought with him the memory of dishes from his native land: spices, produce and remarkable recipes. This baggage, which the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort chef calls his “mind palate”, guided him on his path and shaped his identity, becoming the basis of his culinary identity. His atypical and authentic route is narrated in the autobiographical work “From one Rock to Another-Itinerary of a Chef” (Editions La Martinière). The author describes tales from his childhood to his adult life and associates 60 recipes with every step of his existence. It is the testimony of a life, a wonderful and moving confession prefaced by HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco and by the chef Alain Ducasse.
The chef has also signed a second book: “Best of Marcel Ravin”, published by Editions Ducasse. It is set out like a step-by-step cookery class, with illustrations and tips to successfully create his recipes like a pro!
Marcel Ravin, a humanist at heart, has forged a mixed identity, combining his past and his own fond memories with the countless resources of the Côte d’Azur. In this manner, his culinary partition has gathered an audience of connoisseur gourmets in his restaurant facing the sea at Blue Bay.
His tenacity and creativity were rewarded in 2015 with a new Michelin star. Thanks to his great intuition, Marcel Ravin has successfully transferred his Caribbean repertoire and merged these different influences which infuse his cooking with studied and delicious flavours: corn-fed free range guinea fowl, foie gras with pistachio pesto from Martinique, cabbage and truffle.
His signature dishes: organic egg with truffle, cassava and maracuja juice (passion fruit in creole), his signature dessert: chocolate and passion fruit partition with cocoa bean & passion fruit sauce. His audacity has propelled the Blue Bay restaurant to shine amongst the essential gastronomy bastions of the Principality.
A bright-eyed chef who cooks faithfully and from the heart, Marcel Ravin takes risks, innovates and challenges himself. His studied, delicate movements bring about a feminine style of cuisine because “it reminds me of my grandmother’s style”. His passion and his emotion push him on towards the enchanting shores of fusion cuisine that is so rare in Europe, and just has to be discovered in Monaco.
This creative cuisine was rewarded in November 2018 by the Gault et Millau food guide in its new guide on the Caribbean-French Guiana which lists 215 restaurants in Guadeloupe, Martinique, the North Islands and French Guiana. In 42 years of existence, it is the first time that the 2nd gastronomic guide in the world (after the Michelin), present in 23 countries, has published a guide on Creole cuisine.
And for this first edition, the Guide decided to award the Chef of the Year Trophy to Marcel Ravin at a ceremony in Martinique on 30 November 2018. This reward was given to Marcel Ravin for his work in the Tour Simon restaurants.
The Blue Bay table art
Chef Marcel Ravin joins forces with a potter located in his native country of Martinique to create bespoke dishes which tell a story.
It took a year of collaboration for Peggy Desmeules and Marcel Ravin to succeed in designing unique pieces which bring the chef’s journey to its essential point: evoking the wonderful Caribbean seabed in emotions and relief.
These veritable works of art allow us to imagine the fishing parties described by chef Ravin, “Water and fishing are part of the story of my beginnings of ti boug (child in Creole)… The sea belongs to my geographical and environmental roots… It is here that I learned to explore the depths of my imagination to better understand the visible transformation of the elements”.
A mirror to the soul of the starred chef, this new table art delights the clientele of the Blue Bay. Featuring four elements of the marine world: the dome plate, the sea urchin plate, the coral plate and the creel plate, the fifth element consists of the audacious cuisine which goes perfectly with this tableware to form together a single piece of art. And because Marcel Ravin likes precise gestures and grants importance to their beauty… in order to avoid impairing the universe of the piece, just one motion from the head waiter is sufficient to turn the sculpture around, which then transforms on the plate, signifying the start of the culinary voyage. Where our spirit meets your style.
From the land to the plate: a committed star-awarded Chef!
Cooking seasonal fruits and vegetables, which are freshly harvested from local sources, is more than a commitment for Marcel Ravin; it is a priority. At the Blue Bay, the signature restaurant of Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort, the plants picked close to the restaurant are at the centre of the dish; the meat and fish are accompaniments.
For this, the chef works with the start-up Terre de Monaco, founded by Jessica Sbaraglia, creator of urban organic vegetable plots, including the magnificent one at the Monte-Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort! To keep up with demand, the chef also gets supplies from another vegetable plot, “Le Jardin des Antipodes” in Menton.
Respecting the seasons is essential for the chef. A charter has been established with “Mister Good Fish” in order to respect marine resources thanks to a list of species recommended per season. For example, there is no red tuna on the menu because it is a protected species, and you won’t find any scallops in the summer. However, customers can discover scabbard fish and weever, which are still not well known. Marcel Ravin has also decided to concoct a vegetarian menu for his Blue Bay gastronomic restaurant which is available since April 2019!
