Chef Mauro Colagreco’s looks back to ancient agricultural practices to determine the most sustainable, nutritious and flavorful plates.
Anna Haines
“Cooking is an act of love, but if you go deeper, cooking is giving a person the nutrients to live another day of life,” Lucas Mattioli, the executive chef of Groupe Mauro Colagreco, tells Forbes. “What’s deeper and most important than that in life? Nothing.”
Chef Mauro Colagreco works with a robust research and development team in the kitchen.
Anna Haines
For chef Mauro Colagreco—best known for his triple-Michelin starred restaurant Mirazur in Menton, France—cooking is as much an act of love for his guests as it is for the planet. His growing empire of restaurants aim to re-establish the connection between humans and the Earth he believes has been lost due to the industrialization of agriculture, and is responsible for many of the health issues we see today. “There have been many changes to agriculture in the last 100 years, we’ve lost a lot of diversity,” chef Colagreco tells Forbes. “The way we farm today is disconnected from ancient knowledge, which is why it’s important for us to go back to the history, to see which varieties they used and why they used them.”
“The way we farm today is disconnected from ancient knowledge, which is why it’s important for us to go back to the history, to see which varieties they used and why they used them,” chef Colagreco tells Forbes.
Anna Haines
Growing up in Argentina, chef Colagreco recalls his grandma would refuse to plant if the moon wasn’t in the right position in the sky. The farming methods of today are a stark contrast as pesticides and growth regulators are used to override the instincts of nature. At Mirazur, Chef Colagreco is breathing life into ancient farming practices by relying on the cosmos to determine the rhythm of the menu. The extravagant tasting menu experience—which, in 2019, earned the restaurant the title of the best in the world—alternates between four menus based on the cycles of the moon: leaves, roots, fruits and flowers. Rather than determine the menu first and source second, he lets his gardens be his drawing board.
At triple-Michelin starred restaurant Mirazur, the menu is guided by the cycles of the moon.
Anna Haines
Believing that what works together in nature works harmoniously on the plate and in the body, chef Colagreco applies a permaculture approach to the gardens that supply not only Mirazur, but his numerous restaurants in the French Riviera, such as Ceto and Casa Fuego. What is permaculture? Relying on the biological forces of nature, rather than intervening with industrial farming methods. This means relying on renewable resources, minimizing waste, and planting a diverse array of crops. Central to permaculture is pairing plants that have symbiotic relationships. Basil is planted with tomato because its leaves can provide shade to the tomato, for example. Similarly, the leaves of onion protect the strawberries from the sun. Dish inspiration comes not only from these natural pairings, but the plants that are in season and ready to be harvested.
Chef Colagreco applies a permaculture approach to the gardens that supply his restaurants.
Anna Haines
While eating seasonally is not a new strategy to maintaining the health of the body and planet, what sets chef Colagreco apart is his passion for produce. With more than 1500 species, the chef’s gardens are his luxury good. Guests at Mirazur can tour the garden he built in his own backyard, which once was an infertile plot of land that the chef gradually brought back to life using his biodynamic, permaculture approach. Treating his garden like a test kitchen, chef Colagreco experiments with forgotten ancient plant varieties, and has even saved some, such as the pink onion, from going extinct. He has an entire research and development team, including a forager and anthropologist, dedicated to finding ancient varieties to showcase on the plate. Rather than let the vegetables be an afterthought, secondary to the protein, chef Colagreco makes the produce the star of the plate and chooses the protein second.
When designing the menu at Mirazur, Chef Colagreco chooses the plant first and the protein second.
Anna Haines
While “plant-centered” has become loosely synonymous with healthy eating, at chef Colagreco’s restaurants, plant-centered is taken seriously and the cuisine is healthy without trying to be. Letting nature lead means there is no need for pesticides in the garden or additives in the kitchen, and ingredients require little salt or sugar to shine. At Mirazur, the elaborate tasting menu is nutritionally balanced as a natural outcome of the chef’s effort to reduce redundancy and remain conceptually interesting throughout the multi-hour experience. Despite the restaurant’s location in cheese-loving France, there is an effort to not repeat heavy dairy sauces. If one dish features a cream emulsion, for example, the following dish will likely not have a lactose-heavy sauce. The menu doesn’t have too much of one food group—fats, vegetables or proteins—not because any one of these macronutrients is unhealthy, per say, but because the body, palate and planet prefer a diverse diet.
Letting nature lead means there is no need for pesticides in the garden or additives in the kitchen, and ingredients require little salt or sugar to shine.
Anna Haines
More recently, Mirazur has also been making an effort to reduce the amount of animal proteins on the menu. “This is always a challenge,” chef Mattioli tells Forbes. “Most people understand but some people are angry if they don’t have their meat.” The restaurant uses the challenge as an opportunity to gently inform guests of their sustainable approach and relationship with regenerative meat suppliers.
A cook prepares dishes at seafood-centric restaurant Ceto.
Anna Haines
When there is a focus on one food group, it’s sustainable. The menu at Chef Colagreco’s restaurant Ceto reads like a love letter to seafood, but what many guests likely don’t realize is the instrumental role the restaurant has played in promoting sustainable fishing in the region. Overfishing on the coastline of the Mediterranean has reduced the number of fishermen at the Menton harbor from over 30 to just three. Decreasing water levels and depleted fisheries has pushed many fishermen out of the industry. The practices of the few remaining fishermen are crucial to determining the preservation of the dwindling fish population. Chef Colagreco works with third generation fisherman Lionel and his wife Manuela, who apply his lunar-guided approach to the sea. Working with the position of the moon and the tides, the couple fish at the optimal time to catch and work within the quota limits set by the government to prevent overfishing. If they catch a fish that is protected or endangered, they safely return it to the sea. At Ceto, a seafood maturation chamber enables the restaurant to preserve fish, allowing for flexibility when the catch is low.
Chef Colagreco works with third generation fisherman Lionel and his wife Manuela, who apply his lunar-guided approach to the sea.
Anna Haines
Chef Colagreco is also reviving traditional food production techniques that are better for the body and the planet at his bakery in Menton, France—Mitron. Like many ancient plant varieties, wheat biodiversity vastly decreased over the course of the 20th century as a result of the green revolution. According to chef Mattioli, the demand for wheat that was resistant to disease resulted in the elimination of 70% varieties of the crop. This shift towards a high-gluten variety was too fast for the body to adapt, chef Mattioli tells Forbes, resulting in many of the gluten intolerances we see today.
Chef Colagreco takes a unique approach to bread-making at his bakery Mitron by prioritizing ancient varieties of wheat.
Anna Haines
Despite being unpredictable, labor-intensive and more expensive to produce, Mitron chooses to use only ancient varieties of wheat because they result in a more nutritious loaf. “When flour sits for six to eight months at a bakery, it loses nutrients,” explains chef Mattioli. “When you mill active wheat, it preserves all the nutrients; it keeps the bread alive.” Chef Colagreco hopes that by paying higher prices through the entire supply chain, they can incentivize farmers to choose the more sustainable approach. Recognizing education starts young, Mitron Bakery also gives upwards of 300 loaves a day to local schools. “We’re providing the kids with high quality bread,” says chef Mattioli. “But we’re also teaching them how to eat seasonally for environmental protection.”
While more unpredictable, labor-intensive and expensive to produce, Mitron chooses to use only ancient varieties of wheat because they result in a more nutritious loaf.
©Anna Haines 2024
While some restaurants address the growing demand from consumers to eat better for the planet and the body with strategic marketing or greenwashing, chef Colagreco’s restaurants achieve both goals without trying. Guided by his genuine interest in eating a diverse diet that supports his own health as well as the health of the Earth, chef Colagreco has reached international acclaim, not by reinventing the wheel or complicating cooking, but by simply looking to ancient knowledge and letting nature lead. Whether you’re tasting you’re way through the colorful in-season flowers of the French Riviera at Mirazur or simply having a slice of bread at Mitron Bakery, a taste of chef Colagreco’s universe proves that nature knows best.