A new Board of Directors
Saint-Jean-Cap-Ferrat, October 17 – The association Les Grandes Tables Du Monde has just elected its new Board of Directors at its 65th Congress. On Monday morning, the 181 member houses of the association – including 83 on the Riviera – were called upon to vote to appoint their new representatives. The voting procedure concluded a morning of exchanges, during which the 12 candidates were able to express their ambitions for the future of the association.
The 122 members on the voting list (in the end 121 voters, including 19 invalid ballots) appointed 11 directors: Sylvie Buhagiar, Hélène Clément, Mauro Colagreco, Sang-Hoon Degeimbre, Laurent Gardinier, Heiner Finkbeiner, Marc Haeberlin, Antonio Santini, David Sinapian, André Terrail and Maryse Trama.
From left to right : André Terrail, Hélène Clément, Antonio Santini, Heiner Finkbeiner, Marc Haeberlin, Laurent Gardinier, Mauro Colagreco, Sang-Hoon Degeimbre, Maryse Trama, David Sinapian, Sylvie Buhagiar ©Kris Maccotta
After the very first Board meeting, David Sinapian was re-elected as President for 5 years. For the latter, the Board represents a vibrant community of talent from around the world. As proof, the professions of faith of each of the elected directors, which alone summarize the diversity of backgrounds, nationalities, visions and generations. Here are some excerpts:
André Terrail – Restaurateur La Tour d’Argent – Paris, FRANCE
“We are all at the service of an association, of something that goes beyond us, that we will transmit. Of these values, which we all know, sharing, friendship and transmission, it is the role of the Council to bring them to life and transmit them.”
Hélène Clément – Owner of the restaurant Le Grand Hôtel du Lion d’Or – Romorantin- Lanthenay, FRANCE
“We need to ask ourselves the right questions about the future of our businesses as restaurateurs, chefs and managers, but also about new restaurant formats, customer expectations, know-how and the transmission of know-how.”
Antonio Santini – Owner of the restaurant Schwarzwaldstube, Hotel Traube Tonbach – Baiersbronn, GERMANY
“Gastronomy must face two essential challenges in order to be able to look calmly at the future: first, nature, naturalness, respect for products, and of course the transmission of our professions, which is fundamental!”
Heiner Finkbeiner – Owner of the restaurant Schwarzwaldstube, Hotel Traube Tonbach – Baiersbronn, GERMANY
“For more than 18 years, I have been working with Les Grandes Tables du Monde with great commitment as a member of the board. I feel called, supported by my German and Austrian colleagues, to continue. Not only as a representative of these regions but above all for the interest of our association. If it is doing well, so is gastronomy.”
Marc Haeberlin – Chief Owner Auberge de L’ill – Illhaeusern, FRANCE
“The association has evolved since the time I managed it as a good family man. Today it shines worldwide thanks to David’s team. If I want to stay in the office it is to represent history, because I have historical links with this association and I absolutely want to promote the friendship between us, the one that is the foundation of our association.”
Laurent Gardinier – Owner of the restaurants Le Parc – Domaine Les Crayères – Reims, FRANCE / Le Taillevent – Paris, FRANCE
“What drives me here is above all the passion of a restaurateur, the passion for cooking. Because I understood that it went beyond the simple act of cooking, and that it was at the heart of extremely important issues. I think it is necessary to be able to listen to you, and at the same time to understand that this cuisine is evolving and that we need to be open.”
Mauro Colagreco – Chef and owner of Mirazur restaurant – Menton, FRANCE
“Our association has a role to play in the challenges facing the world of gastronomy. This one is moving globally at high speed, we have to think about the challenges related to the new approaches of luxury. We did not have the same yesterday, that today, that we will not have the same tomorrow.”
David Sinapian ©Kris Maccotta
Sang-Hoon Degeimbre – Chef owner of the restaurant L’air du temps – Liernu, BELGIUM
“The work of a restaurateur is to be done on a daily basis. The example is to be set daily in our homes and in the passion we put into it. I always talk about three circles in my restaurant: our garden first, our producers second, and envy above all. The desire to work with great people all over the world. And that desire is also a way of banishing borders, because I don’t want borders.”
Maryse Trama – Owner of the restaurant Michel Trama – Puymirol, FRANCE
“For 20 years now, I have had the privilege of working at the office of the Grandes Tables du Monde. My only goal has always been to listen to you in order to best defend your requests, your ideas, your objections. These years spent at your side have brought me to meet wonderful women and men who represent our profession so well. We must all be in solidarity to give our association the influence it deserves.”
David Sinapian – Owner of the restaurants La Maison Pic – Valence, FRANCE / Anne-Sophie Pic at the Beau Rivage Palace – Lausanne, SWITZERLAND
“I would like everyone to be able to draw from Les Grandes Tables du Monde the energy and enthusiasm to be able to work as a restaurateur in a changing environment. I would like you to be able to meet your peers here and exchange because it is these exchanges that nourish and give wings.”
Sylvie Buhagiar – Administrator of the restaurant Lasserre – Paris, FRANCE
“The Council needs members who complement each other with their experience and training but who share the same passion and commitment.”
These elections therefore demonstrate the members’ desire to support a collective project and a vision for the future. For the President, major projects await the Board of Directors, at the centre of which is of course the promotion of its members. But the association – whose two vice-presidents, the treasurer, the secretary general, the delegates for France and abroad, will be appointed on 26 November – does not intend to turn its back on the many challenges facing the sector either.
Sustainable development, respectful management, inclusion, training, transmission, etc. will therefore be the subject of exchanges and reflections between peers and with the general public, to confirm that the association is synonymous with tradition, yes, but above all with progress and modernity!
