Maison Française Magazine
aspires to bring French sensibilities
to your everyday life.
This month
CONVERSATION with
Olivier Cassegrain
Co-owner of Longchamp bags brand, NYC, NYGwendoline Hamon
Actress & Author, Paris
OLIVIER CASSEGRAIN
- Member of the Family Cassegrain
Owner Longchamp Bags Brand -
NYC, NY
February 27
ALEXIS DE LA PALME
- Chairman of the Management Board
Edmond de Rothschild Heritage -
Paris
July 10, 2020
ANNABELLE BRUN
January 10, 2021
MADAME FLORENCE CATHIARD
- Owner & Winemaker
Château Smith Haut Lafitte -
Martillac Bordeaux
January 27
STEPHANE SORET
- Director of Wine and
F&B Special Projects -
Raffles Hotel Singapore
November 24, 2020
CONVERSATION with ...
Conversation with
February 27th, 2021
Olivier Cassegrain
Co-Owner & in charge of the US market LONGCHAMP bags
NYC, NY
IS A LONGCHAMP BAG MORE THAN AN ACCESSORY ?
OC : "In the 1980s, we ran an advertising campaign that said "Longchamp and me, it's for a long time". Myself, I carry my house on my back and when I choose a bag, I keep it for at least 5 years. This year, we did not choose a muse in our advertising campaign, it is a decision on our part because after Kendal Jenner, we wanted someone whose behavior and attitude our customers feel closer to.
As was the case with Kate Moss who during our 7 campaigns, had an extraordinary charisma, a naturalness and spontaneity. She outperforms and far outclasses all Instagram starlets."
TO WHAT DETAILS DO YOU ALWAYS PAY ATTENTION ON YOUR DINNER TABLE ?
OC : "I'm a bit of a maniac because I went to hotel school ... I am very attentive to the way the forks are placed. In France, forks point down because the coat of arms was engraved on the back of the handle of the fork. I also always make sure that the knives are not too far from the edge of the table. And, I always pay attention to the positioning of the glasses. Indeed, I don't like it when they take the wrong place. Today we often have a tumbler for water and a wine glass, it bothers me because it is not visually harmonious. Then, it depends on where you are: if it is a lunch in the south of France where the atmosphere is more relaxed then, it bothers me less but in Paris for example, I find that the tumbler and the wine glass do not fit together next to each other. Also, I hate when the napkins are excessively folded. This is the rule I learned in school, a simple fold is always the best."
ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT TABLE MANNERS ?
OC : "I show my daughter how to sit up straight, telling her what I used to hear as a child "pull out your chest, tuck your stomach in and squeeze your butt." Also to be patient, to let the adults talk, which is not easy for her… because as soon as she has something to say, she says it, she is only 6 years old… also, I make her understand that she has to listen to what adults are talking about and to not cut them off because she is part of a conversation and depending on how she is going to intervene, this will show that she is interested in what is going on or that she is not interested in it ..."
IS THERE A BAG COLLECTION THAT EVOKES
NOSTALGIA TO YOU ?
OC : "I am thinking of the Zip Bag which was designed by Thomas Heatherwick in a limited edition in 2005. A bag built around a long zipper which was very popular at that time. It was pretty, practical, chic, sober, very functional and with a combination of materials and colors (black leather and orange nylon for example). We then chose Thomas Heatherwick to design the staircase in our Soho boutique, which we called Maison Unique Longchamp. Crafted from laminated steel, it was the 1st work of art of the the famous British designer before making his second creation in Hudson yards, The Vessel."
A PLACE THAT
RESOURCES YOU ?
OC : "I miss Courchevel very much, I've been going there since I was born. I have never skied anywhere else and this year due to the virus we will not be able to go. Another place, Corsica, where I have also been going since I was born, I was baptized in the church of Porto Veccio."
YOUR GREATEST FOOLISHNESS ?
OC: " My greatest folly was to accept a position in the Hilton hotel in Bora Bora. I was hired as a front deak agent and when I arrived there, I was directly appointed rooms division manager. It should have caught my attention!! I left on a December 22nd and it was heartbreaking for my parents "
HOW DOES THE LONGCHAMP STORE IN NY SYMBOLIZE FRENCH ART OF LIVING IN ITS OWN WAY ?
OC : "In the Soho's boutique (132 Spring Street, NYC, NY) which is 500m2, we have a 200m2 terrace that we lend for outdoor events that has nothing to do with our band. Keeping our terrace out of charge and available for events is part of a philanthropic approach in line with the image that we wish to convey "simple and accessible". As regularly, on Saturdays for several years, the teachers of architecture schools come with their students and spend long hours sketching the architectural steel staircase of the store. We are happy to receive visits from people who come to discover the store. Our desire of hosting and receiving people is part of our art of living. And we are very comfortable to welcome architecture students as well as the architect of the Vessel. We want to stay "chic in all circumstances"
A MOVING ENCOUNTER WITH SOMEONE?
OC : "Kate Moss!
And Bob Kennedy Jr. also… People in front of him are like facing a guru, he is passionate about what he does… it was a very nice meeting"
WHAT KIND OF GIFT DO YOU LIKE TO GIVE ?
OC : "What I find is very difficult and very interesting at the same time is to give a gift that you do not like but that will please the person concerned. This year, I found some nice presents around themes such as gardening,
cooking or coffee.
Last January, I gave a friend for her birthday our new bag that we just released: le Sac Filet which is the result of our collaboration with the Normande Filt brand which makes shopping bags"
Conversation with
February 7th, 2021
Gwendoline Hamon
Actress & Author,
Paris
WHAT KIND OF FOOD
YOU CAN NOT RESIST ?
GH : "The pot au feu! A simple meal that reminds me the gentleness of a grandmother and the warmness of a reunited family"
HOW DO YOU MAKE BEAUTIFUL A
TABLE ?
GH : "I do love vintage and singular objects. For example, I've got a water carafe baroque style that represents a dog and I love to put it on my dinner table. I have small vintage silver Empire style knives. I use silver cutlery everyday, small vintage salt shakers in silver as well and I put colored candles with ancient chandeliers. To male it short, I love to dress my dinner table with a mix of objects that reflect myself. And I never put a plastic water bottle on my table! "
YOUR MOTTO ?
GH : "I always want to " see the glass as half full". And also " what is beautiful is what we love" is a replica that comes out of a theatre play of my grandfather."
Her grandfather was Jean Anouilh,a French dramatist whose work ranged from high drama to absurdist farce, Anouilh is best known for his 1944 play Antigone.
YOUR MADELEINE
DE PROUST ?
GH : "There are several: tasty, visual and odorous! The Cannelés and the Florentins of my childhood... the Cannelés from Chez Fredelian, the not to miss cake shop in Cap Ferret where my grandparents used to have a house and the Florentins from the tearoom La Chaumière in Villars sur Ollon in Switzerland where I used to go every year when I was a child. And the Bavette à l'aïoli, flank steak cooked by my father over a wood fire. I do not like meat very much but I could enjoy 25 pieces of this one. The smell of freshly cut grass gives me a sense of well being and same with the landscapes of my childhood (Senegal in Africa, Cap Ferret and Switzerland)"
WHAT IS VERY FRENCH
IN YOUR STYLE ?
GH : "I feel comfortable everywhere and in any social environment. I know how to behave and deeply love "others" wherever they come from as long as they are human and that the moment I share with them is fulfilling. We all should enjoy the real moments.
Regarding my style, I can wear accessories or a very elegant outfit and take the metro all day, or walk home after a party with high heels,
For interior design, I also like the decorative mixes, very old paintings and African art or modern photos and heterogeneous objects living together in a very colorful atmosphere with warm points of light.
There is in the French woman a simplicity and a naturalness that is part of her DNA. One day, at JFK airport, a man approached me saying "you, you are French, I can tell immediately, as you are not excessively sophisticated like the American women. You do have a sense of naturalness and chicness. " Today, I'm still busy beaming with pride."
A NOSTALGIC THEATRE PLAY EXPERIENCE ?
GH : "When I was acting in a play by Sacha Guitry directed by the famous actor Jean Paul Belmondo at the Théâtre des Variétés in Paris. Every week, Alain Belmondo his brother was coming to see us in backstage and I was spending hours to chat with him. This great theatre company had became like a family to me all the year long that was a success and we had such fun laughing together. I was playing the role of the famous actor Jean Pierre Marielle's daughter and we shared wonderful scenes together. There was the famous actress Françoise Fabian that I loved very much. Agathe Nathanson, Pierre Vernier, François Vincentelli were all my theatre mates and I was sharing a lot with them. The play was staged by Bernard Murat who I was really impressed by. It is such a great memory..."
YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER IN YOUR GRAND FATHER'S
(Jean Anouilh)
THEATRE PLAYS?
GH : "It's hard to choose because even the small roles in Anouilh's theatre plays are interesting and have a strong personality. But I would say that the characters who shout their truth to the world with their neurosis, complexes, fear, beliefs and naivety win out. I can't quote them all, there are too many, he wrote 50 plays!"
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A WOMAN WHO, FOR YOU, EMBODIES
FRENCH ELEGANCE ?
GH :"I am thinking of Catherine Deneuve, for her elegance over the past decades, but beyond her beauty, her lovestories and her career choices, she always has defended a great right to freedom of speech, she acts with the boldness, the intelligence and the freedom that symbolize the real French woman. I believe a woman can be chic and involved at the same time ."
DO YOU PREFER TO WRITE OR PLAY COMEDY ?
GH : "They are two radically different exercises. Being an actress forces you to live through the eyes of the others, the judgment of others, the decisions of others which is not pleasant and quite unsettling. But it is true that interpreting, blending in with someone else's personality turns me on and transcends me. I love this inner work of research and the moment I let go off the machine. While writing is extraordinary because it is an introspection, we do not restrain ourselves, we are independent of our time, of our words, we are at our own service and at the service of the future reader who will read the book or not. "
Conversation with
January 27th, 2021
Madame Florence Cathiard
Owner & Winemaker
Château Smith Haut Lafitte,
Martillac Bordeaux
YOUR MOTTO ?
FC : “I never lose. I either win or learn” by Nelson Mandela"
AN EXAMPLE OF ELEGANCE
IN A WINE ?
FC : "Château Haut Brion 1989 is extremely elegant. I drunk it 2 times in my life and I still remember it as if it was yesterday...
Château Smith Haut Lafitte 2016 is the purity and authenticity of the organic producion, the energy, the length of the finish of a Big one."
MY FAVORITE NOSTALGIC WINE EXPERIENCE YOU EVER HAD ?
FC : 'The only day I have cried on a wine tasting session. It was 10 years ago, we were invited by an American banker, a wine collectioner to an extraordinary wine tasting with legendary wines such as Romanée Conti and Mission Haut Brion. Then, we have tasted Chateau Mouton Rothschild 1945 right from the end of the World War II. A wine made by women with a V for Victory on the label... It was my first time I tasted this pure gem. I was really moved."
YOUR MOST MEMORABLE DINNER EXPERIENCE ? ?
FC : "It was in Shanghaï about 15 years ago with 3 other French winemakers... We were attending a French themed King Louis XIV dinner with Chinese guests. The dinner experience was fabulous and at the same time, it was punctuated by inextinguishable laughters. The waiters appeared all dressed of very fine and elegant lace costumes and fluorescent wigs in yellow, orange colors... They brought the main course made of a cooked peacock with all its feathers on the head and tail. The 3 of us could not stop laughing out, when one of us 3 was stopping, another was starting out again. Our wines were tasting nicely and the Chinese guests were fine. When one of the waiters suddenly saw himself in the mirror, with the costume, the yellow wig and the peacok with full feathers, he ran away!! I had to wear sunglasses to hide my tears of laughters...
It was supposed to be a tribute to French art de vivre in China 15 years ago... Nowadays, things have changed a lot."
LES SOURCES DE CAUDALIE OR LES SOURCES DE CHEVERNY ?
FC : "I choose les Sources de Caudalie because it remains the base, the terroir of the best Grand Cru classé and where our daughters grew up. When les Sources de Caudalie has the family patina, les Sources de Cheverny is more modern and trendy. Alice, my daughter has furnished the place with Capron furniture. Myself I have got rid of a vintage Capron table! I must say that I am a bit jealous of les Sources de Cheverny... "
ELEGANCE IN A MEAL ?
FC : "The Pot au Feu! It matches very well with my red wines and offers not more than 3-4 flavors in mouth "
BISTRO OR
MICHELIN STARRED RESTAURANT ?
FC : "I choose the bistro lunch because I like not too long wine tasting sessions as we can find in a 3 starred restaurant where you get 8 different wines... "
ARE YOU CONCERNED ABOUT TABLE MANNERS ?
FC : "I am very demanding only for wine etiquette. The wine has to be decanted, served in a wine carafe and be savored in the appropriate wine glasses..."
ELEGANCE IN A MUSIC ?
FC : "Les Sonates pour Flûtes de Bach and Coldplay that my husband listens to very often. I like the elegance of Chris Martin."
Conversation with
January 19th, 2021
Marion Naufal
Editorial Illustrator & Screenwriter -
NYC, NY
A GREAT DINNER PARTY
TABLE GIFT ?
MN : "A GREAT DINNER PARTY TABLE GIFT?
A candle holder by the French porcelain master Bernardaud"
YOUR FAVORITE CHILDHOOD NOSTALGIC FOOD ?
MN : "Le Canard à l'Orange - Roasted Duck with Orange Sauce - that was served at Lasserre Restaurant Paris, the restaurant of my grandfather by marriage. Also La Timbale Elysée dessert is my Madeleine de Proust. It was made of was vanilla ice cream with variety of berries topped with caramelized sugar in thin wafer type bowl. Nowadays, they don't serve any of these 2 famous meals anymore at the restaurant.
René Lasserre, the founder and owner of the famous 3 Michelin starred Lasserre Restaurant, the gastronomical institution in Paris and mentor of a lot of French chefs"
WRITE OR DRAW ?
MN : "I choose both because writing and drawing take me to a no limit creativity and flex my imagination. They both have a relaxing, soothing and refocusing effect on me. I cannot live without writing and drawing.
Writing stories for movies is a way to escape in another reality and I can stay in my bubble quite a long time. And I live for months with my characters always trying to find inspiration around me.
My script “Shifting Sands” should be in production later in 2021. The Covid postponed the development for a while. But for both of my activities in the end, I try to create an atmosphere and another reality. I couldn’t choose really."
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YOUR FAVORITE DISH YOU LIKE TO COOK ?
MN : "MY FAVORITE FRENCH DISH I LIKE TO COOK?
is one of my mother recipe (the French chef Catherine Guerraz) : carpaccio of scallops with olive oil, lemon, grapefruit and orange squeezed juice, pomegrate seeds, grapefruit and orange pieces.
I also love very much to cook the traditional Sole Meunière served with Noirmoutier potatoes"
ONE OF MY FRIENDS IN NEW YORK WHO REPRESENTS FRENCH LIFESTYLE
THE MOST ?
MN : "Mailys Vranken in NYC who comes from the Vranken family, owner of the Maison de Champagne Pommery, she represents the luxury, the elegance and the French terroir products with the expertise and refinement of our country."
WRITE OR DRAW ?
MN : "I choose both because writing and drawing take me to a no limit creativity and flex my imagination. They both have a relaxing, soothing and refocusing effect on me. I cannot live without writing and drawing.
Writing stories for movies is a way to escape in another reality and I can stay in my bubble quite a long time. And I live for months with my characters always trying to find inspiration around me.
My script “Shifting Sands” should be in production later in 2021. The Covid postponed the development for a while. But for both of my activities in the end, I try to create an atmosphere and another reality. I couldn’t choose really."
A MUSEUM IN FRANCE ?
MN : "I am tempted to spontaneously say Le Musée Rodin. I really love this charming, intimate hidden place. On another side, Le Musée du Louvre is in front of the house where I lived. I used to go there all the time for a stroll through the art collections or for sculpture and pottery workshops. Not to mention Le Musée Jacquemart Andre where I got married!"
THE BEST ADVICE I'VE EVER RECEIVED ?
MN : "THE BEST ADVICE I'VE EVER RECEIVED?
Do not forget to take time to do things that nourish your soul! "
WHAT HOME DECOR DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE ON YOUR TABLE ?
AB : "I love putting on my dining table a lot of vintage French chandeliers illuminating the space..."
A SECRET PLACE IN REIMS ?
Our lovely vintage guest house, Les Pénates Reims. A former artist's studio that has been transformed with one mantra in mind: “preserving the spirit of the old"
THE 3 THINGS YOU CANNOT LIVE WITHOUT ?
AB : "My phone to take pictures wherever I go
A notebook. I have been a huge fan of notebooks for many years,
A large metal shop sign letter "B" like the first letter of my last name. I have been taking it with me each time for 17 years when moving to my new houses."
THE MOVIE THAT DEEPLY
MOVES YOU ?
AB : "The movie Les Petits Mouchoirs makes me go from laughters to tears and mirrors my life, my roots and my heritage"
YOUR INTERIOR DESIGN STYLE ?
AB : "is bohemian chic style, not contemporary at all. When it comes to home decor and design, I love to recycle and to make everything old to new again."
CHEESE OR DESSERT ?
AB : "The cheese is an amazing burst of flavors that I love to enjoy with Bordeaux red wine"
Stéphane Soret
-DIRECTOR OF WINES AND SPECIAL F&B PROJECT
RAFFLES HOTEL, SINGAPORE
" The French treat I can not do without ?
The bread! There are several French bakers in Singapore, but the baguette is not as good as in our neck of the wood!
My guilty pleasure ?
I serve Chateau Jolys with fresh strawberries and Roquefort Papillon.
French wine?
French wine remains a strong reference, but we need to stay curious. There are very good wines all around the world and my passion is to discover the wine simply and to share it with my clients. I am a gallery owner that exhibits art in a bottle. "
OCTOBER 2020
Alexis de la Palme
CHAIRMAN OF THE MANAGEMENT BOARD
EDMOND ROTHSCHILD HERITAGE
"Luxury?
For me, it is a sum of many and varied little elements related to culinary art, a way to express towards another, qualitative nuances, a way of being, a posture."
In 2014, he was decorated as a Knight of the Legion of Honour, the highest French order of merit awarded by the head of state to citizens for contributions in their field.
"My motto?
"Do not renounce" is in my family since the 16th century. "
JULY 2020
Christophe Michalak
MASTER PATISSIER
BEST PATISSIER OF THE WORLD 2013
" For me, baking a cake is a proof of love. It is a way of conveying emotions as much as possible.
The pastry that represents France the most is probably le croissant, but I have a bit of a bias about le Paris-Brest and le flan which are my two "Madeleines de Proust"
A vert French pleasure?
...ending a meal with a delicious dessert of course !"
MAY 2020
Alexandre Bader
MANAGING DIRECTOR
MAISON DE CHAMPAGNE BILLECART SALMON
" For me, luxury, it is a rare and hardly renewable moment…
My luxury’s being with my family or with my friends in Brittany but always far from crowds."
A funny situation that I found myself?
Having two working lunch planned on the same day. I was sitting peacefully in a restaurant with a client, sipping a glass of Billecart, suddenly my phone started vibrating and (thump!), another working lunch had surreptitiously interposed itself.
In the confusion, I quickly ate my starter and first course and then slipped away to join my other lunch meeting without anyone realizing that I had accidentally double-booked myself that day.
In 25 years, it has happened to me twice ! "
MARCH 2020
You all know my passion for hospitality and art of living. And how much I love sharing my country’s beauty & culture with you.
Maison Française Magazine
is dedicated to clearly discerning lovers of all things related to French art of living.