Exclusive interview: Julien Lapraille, our new buddy!
Hello Burger Fans!
As you certainly already know (if not shame on you… booo), we collaborated with Julien Lapraille this summer, and he concocted a burger that was typically Liège, enough to make a saint swoon! (Slllurrrppp… a little bit of drool at the corner of the mouth…) This collaboration went super well and we discovered in Julien a new buddy as well as a real pro!
We went to his Marche Gourmande at the beginning of October (we recommend it for next year by the way!), and we took the opportunity to do a little exclusive interview. Read on!
What’s a good burger for you? Will there be a burger on the menu in your future restaurant?
It’s not complicated: for me a burger is something with good, very fresh meat and ingredients that all have a story, related to the place where it’s made.
For example, the burger we made together is a burger that’s tied to its region, to me, and that brings everyone together. It has to bring people together, there has to be coherence. There has to be a story, and it has to stay local.
I don’t think there will be a burger on my menu, well I haven’t thought about it yet… I don’t yet have my future menu in mind, so to know whether there will be a burger is going a bit far! (laughs)
So no, at the moment I don’t think so, but for example, why not, in a menu, include a mini burger — for example wild boar — or a mini sausage bun, it could work very well.
We now see, in restaurants or even on Top Chef, that they often reinvent the burger. What do you think about that?
It’s clear that if you look at current cooking shows, they all go back to things like burgers, beef stews, vol‑au‑vents, a pasta gratin, etc. So we’re going back a lot to convivial cooking, which is great! It’s true that the burger is very much in fashion at the moment and is taking over in many restaurants and kitchens.
How did you imagine the recipe for the “Julien Lapraille X The Huggy’s Bar” burger?
I phoned Leslie (from Duel en cuisine) and asked her what really iconic things there are in Liège. I was only thinking about boulets à la liégeoise (laughs). By the way, I went to Lequet once, it’s crazy! I walked in and thought I had gone to the wrong place, it looked like a café. I told the owner we had a reservation for two, he said “well, sit wherever you want!” We sat down, he didn’t care, then people started to recognise me and he came over saying “so who are you?!” (laughs), it was a great memory.
Anyway, to come back to the burger, I asked what were the local ingredients, spices, cheeses and drinks, and I put them together so that the burger would be rooted in its terroir.
For the record, here are the ingredients that made up the “Julien Lapraille X The Huggy’s Bar” burger: Sesame bun – Beef seasoned with wholegrain mustard and wild garlic – Val Dieu cheese – Belgian endive – Sucrine lettuce – Sweet/savoury sauce (including Stassen cider and Liège syrup).
What are your projects for the coming months?
My projects are to find my restaurant, my location, to find the ideal place.
The other projects don't come after, but my big project is to find the place where I’m going to open my own restaurant.
I want to settle down and have my own place. I did 80 000 km last year, that’s enough, I’m a chef, not a truck driver (laughs).
I still do four meals a week at people’s homes for my private chef activity. People don’t always realise it, but in the morning I do my activities, at 13 h I have a radio show in Brussels, then at 17 h I’m at people’s homes to start cooking, so it’s crazy.
And what will your restaurant be like? Can we have a scoop?
Ahh but I know exactly what I want! I want a small restaurant with an open kitchen so that people can see me. Since I’ve done a lot of private chef gigs where there’s very close contact, people know me like that, so I want to continue to have that contact, to wander near the tables. I want a small restaurant with around thirty seats, a beautiful garden and 3 or 4 rooms where people can stay overnight. Why not little cottages in the future… The ultimate would be to have a small shop, a delicatessen, right next to the restaurant; that would be top!
In short, a relaxed and fun interview, just like Julien!
And you, what did you think of the Julien Lapraille X The Huggy’s Bar burger?
Julien and Thomas loved it anyway!
Stay tuned, this lovely collaboration may just be getting started…
