If you haven’t heard of Anne-Sophie Pic, you should get to know her… A petite powerhouse of the culinary world, she is currently the only female chef in France to have three Michelin stars, which she earned in 2007. Her fine dining restaurant at the Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne has two stars in the Michelin guide and 18 out of 20 points from Gault & Millau. She also manages several restaurants in France, including at Maison Pic in Valence – the boutique hotel that has been in her family for three generations. Beyond all of this, she writes cookbooks and has her own line of food products.

For the first-time ever, Anne-Sophie Pic recently hosted a special gourmet market in the garden of the Beau-Rivage Palace, in an effort to share her favorite Swiss food producers with the local community of Lausanne. This free event gave fans of this celebrity chef the chance to meet her face-to-face. As part of this event, she also prepared an exceptional Menu du marché – a six-course meal highlighting seasonal products from these local producers.

My invitation to attend the market included having lunch at Anne-Sophie Pic’s restaurant, which she opened in 2009 at this luxury five-star hotel. Now I have the pleasure of revealing where you can buy the same ingredients this French chef uses in her kitchen and the extraordinary dishes from her market-inspired menu.

Le Marché d’Anne-Sophie Pic– Sharing her Secrets with Lausanne

On Friday, August 26  from 10:00 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.  — one of the very hottest days of summer 2016 — the Market of Anne-Sophie Pic featured 10 local businesses who supply her restaurant with honey, fresh vegetables, cheese, spices, meat and more.

Here’s a list of who participated in this market, which was held in the stunning garden outside the impressive Beau-Rivage Palace:

• Serge GUIDOUX, fishmonger (Lausanne) – Pêcherie d’Ouchy
• Yannick CHAPUIS, butcher (Onex) – Boucherie d’Onex
• La Famille CUENDET, farmers (Bremblens) – Cuendet Légumes
• Patrick & Corinne ROSSET, spices (Payerne) – Le Monde des Épices
• Charlotte LANDOLT, herbalist (Rossinière) – Jardin des Monts
• Jacques DUTTWEILLER, cheese (Thierrens) – Duttweiler Fromages
• Christian MELLIORET, beekeeper (Chardonne) – Apiculture-services.ch
• Marinette BORLOZ, florist (Lausanne) – Melyan Fleurs
• Raymond PACCOT, winemaker (Féchy) – Domaine La Colombe
• Philippe BOVARD, winemaker (Cully) – Domaine Louis Bovard

At the market, you could talk directly with the various business owners and make purchases to take home. Need some fresh fish for dinner, for example? No problem. One of the best fishmongers from the area, Pêcherie d’Ouchy, was on hand to sell you some fresh fish from nearby Lac Léman.

It was very generous of Anne-Sophie Pic to share the names of her favorite local businesses with Lausanne. The businesses can benefit from increased visibility, and we as consumers benefit from learning about these high-quality products. With a recommendation from Anne-Sophie Pic, I would certainly feel very confident in the products from these local business.

Le Menu du Marché – A Celebration of Fresh, Local Produce

As part of your visit to the market of Anne-Sophie Pic, you could also make reservations for an exclusive Menu du marché at the restaurant that day (CHF 260). The 6-course menu showcased her brilliant cooking style, while also highlighting the local products from the producers at the market.

Each dish was composed with utmost care and attention to detail. I found her cuisine to be light, full of color and with layers of flavors — especially in the delicate sauces she prepared for nearly every course. We started our meal around 12:30 p.m. that day, and the dessert probably arrived at about 3:30 p.m. — it was a serious feast of absolutely amazing food.

Here is my brief summary of the six courses from Anne-Sophie Pic’s market menu:

1) LA TOMATE PLURIELLE

One of her signature dishes, these “naturally explosive” cherry tomatoes topped with flower petals burst in your mouth when you ate them. In the center of the tomatoes was a dollop of ice cream made from burrata and seasoned with smoked vanilla. The chilled broth was flavored with blackcurrant leaves and elderflowers. I found this dish to be a surprising and inventive take on the classic pairing of tomatoes and mozzarella.

2) L’ŒUF DE POULET ET LA COURGETTE

This dish involved a poached chicken’s egg surrounded by slices of lightly cooked zucchini and yellow squash in a delicious sauce infused with Vietnamese coriander. I absolutely loved the light green sauce with the vegetables and egg, and the addition of the crunchy sunflower seeds.

3) LES ÉCREVISSES DU LAC LÉMAN

I don’t have much experience eating crayfish, and certainly have never made it at home, so I was especially interested to try this dish. The tender shellfish from Lake Geneva were served with mushrooms and a bouillon infused with geranium and ginger and topped with green sprigs of salicorne, a succulent seaside plant. This was one of my favorite dishes of the meal — rich and satisfying, yet somehow still very fresh and lightweight.

4) LE BŒUF DU VAL D’HERENS

I read that Anne-Sophie Pic has loved carrots since childhood, and the main course of her Menu du marché paired beef from the Swiss canton of Valais with brightly colored carrots, thinly sliced and puréed. She recommended a medium-rare preparation for the beef, which was marinated with Zacapa rum, Vietnamese pepper and coffee. I really liked the combination of the sweet carrots with the savory beef.

5) LE BERLINGOT

Another one of her signature dishes, the Berlingots are little ravioli pyramids filled with a mixture of local cheeses. You’ll find these at her various restaurants, but their composition differs, with ingredients that represent each geographic area. The delicious pasta was delicate and thin, but somehow held together its savory contents without splitting apart. Nestled in a light broth and topped with fresh flower petals and micro greens, you can see why these cheesy Berlingots have become a popular dish.

6) LA FIGUE, L’ANETH ET LE MIEL

And for the dessert… I had been experimenting at home with fresh figs and honey earlier that week, so I was excited to try Anne-Sophie Pic’s interpretation of these two ingredients. On a soft biscuit, she layered a sweet fig confit, followed by light dollops of cream infused with beeswax. The center featured an unusual flavor combination — dill and honey ice cream surrounded by slices of fresh figs and sprigs of fresh dill. This was yet another interesting, unique and wonderful dish, which I thoroughly enjoyed.

Paired with the gorgeous plates of food were three different wines — two Swiss white wines from the region: a Pinot Gris from Domaine La Colombe and a Chenin Blanc from Domaine Louis Bovard — both of these vineyards participated in the market. The third glass was a French red wine — Saint-Joseph Cuvée du Papy.

I recently borrowed one of Anne-Sophie Pic’s cookbooks from the library, which includes some recipes for cooking with children that I’m eager to try at home. After reading all about her impressive accomplishments, it was truly a pleasure to have a meal in her restaurant at the magnificent Beau-Rivage Palace. She presented us with really exquisite dishes, especially in terms of their appearance and creative flavor combinations. In my opinion, she’s an exciting and innovative chef doing incredible work here in Switzerland and in France. Not only that, but thanks to this public market, now I know where to find her favorite Swiss ingredients… And, so do you!

Anne-Sophie Pic Lausanne, Place du Port 17-19, CH – 1000 Lausanne 6, +41 21 613 33 39, asp@brp.ch

Updated: December 30, 2022