He pulled out all the stops – and low prices – big time.
Mango-avocado salad, Riesling rooster and Belle-Hélène pear for 3.30 euros (one euro for scholarship holders): in Strasbourg, hundreds of students enjoyed a menu concocted by starred chef Marc Haeberlin on Tuesday, at an unbeatable price.
It's not yet noon and the queue for Resto U'Gallia, a building located in the historic Neustadt district, stretches along the block.
“It’s incredible, I’m stunned,” confides Marc Haeberlin in front of the crowd.
The famous chef of the Auberge de l'Ill, a two-star restaurant, agreed to cook voluntarily for the students, at the invitation of the Crous (Regional Center for University Works) in Strasbourg.
Cooking 1,500 meals, compared to a maximum of 80 in his restaurant in Illhaeusern, in Haut-Rhin, “it’s a challenge”.
“The problem with such a quantity is the seasoning,” he remarked Tuesday morning as he tasted a creamy sauce simmering in the scent of white wine.
Because the proportions are gargantuan: 150 kg of knepfles (Alsatian pasta), 1,200 poultry legs, and liters of cream.
Pepinette risotto
With this lunch, Marc Haeberlin hopes to “show that we are not far removed from the problem of student nutrition”.
“I see from the press that many students only have one meal a day or are no longer able to eat properly,” he notes.
This operation “is for them, to offer them a tasty meal, at an affordable price”.
And why not, make them want to get into cooking or enter a Michelin-starred restaurant.
A figure in Alsatian gastronomy, Marc Haeberlin, 69, started at the Strasbourg hotel school at the age of 15 before working at Bocuse in Lyon, Troisgros in Roanne (Loire), Lasserre in Paris, and with the pastry chef Gaston Lenôtre.
Then in 1976, he returned to Alsace, to the Auberge de l'Ill which he “never left”.
“I had already cooked for schools or nursing homes but for students, this is a first,” he emphasizes.
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In addition to his time, the chef offered porcini cream and hazelnuts.
Other suppliers donated wine, chocolate or poultry.
After a starter with exotic flavors, the students were able to taste a typical Alsatian dish, coq au riesling and knepfles, or opt for the vegetarian alternative, a pepinette risotto with poached egg, porcini cream and fresh mushroom.
“It’s very, very good, it’s a change from the usual menus,” relishes Lilian Heydel, 22 years old.
To make sure not to miss this opportunity, this Life and Earth Sciences student arrived at 11:30 a.m. and waited half an hour: “It was worth it,” he assures.
And to clarify: “I can’t afford to eat gourmet food.
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“It’s a privilege”
“Eating this good for one euro is a privilege,” admits Lola Cazot, 19 years old.
Her friend Charlie Kassimo-Zahnd, 18, explains that she takes all her lunches and dinners at Resto U': “It's the only solution so that I have a little money left at the end of the month.
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With this operation, a first in a Resto U' in Strasbourg, "we want to show the students that here we do real cooking, that there is a lot of homemade food even if we are on collective catering", explains Sophie Roussel, general director of Crous de Strasbourg.
“We want to please them,” she adds.
And for the teams, “it’s an exceptional opportunity to work with a star chef”.
“We are all very honored to receive the chef.
In the field, he’s someone,” says Mathieu Ribeiro, chef of Resto U’Gallia.
In the kitchen, “he directs us, gives us tips.
It's stimulating, it takes us out of our daily lives, and it's all for the benefit of the students... They are spoiled.
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