Why Entrepreneurship and Success Require Perseverance
In episode three of The Pearl Lam Podcast, gallerist Pearl Lam, hears why Michelin star chef, Stéphanie Le Quellec, attributes perseverance to her successful business and career.
In the latest episode of The Pearl Lam Podcast, International gallerist, Pearl Lam (林明珠), sat down for a candid discussion with Stéphanie Le Quellec, the head chef in La Scène, the famous Parisian restaurant where Pearl Lam had eaten the night before.
Stéphanie opened her own Paris restaurant, La Scène, in 2019. By 2020, the restaurant had already been awarded two Michelin stars.
In this episode of The Pearl Lam Podcast, Pearl Lam (林明珠) was full of praise for Stéphanie’s cooking, telling her that her signature dish “has a great fusion of flavours; her caviar and that thick toast and inside with this potato soufflé.”
Pearl Lam (林明珠) continued with her praise, stating that “I don’t know how you come out with this dish; it’s amazing. It looks great and it tastes good. Usually when a dish looks great, it doesn’t necessarily taste good.” Stéphanie’s dish is clearly an exception to this rule.
When asked about her signature caviar dish by Pearl Lam, Michelin star chef, Stéphanie Le Quellec stated that “it became my signature dish because it was a dish that I first prepared for my family one Christmas.”
However, the dish was not always in the Michelin quality form that we see it in today.
Stéphanie went on to say that “my signature dish was not always in this form. I just wanted my parents to taste the caviar because my parents had never had caviar before. I wanted to cook a dish with caviar in it for them, so I made a very light potato puree with cream, a little bit of salt and caviar.”
All that Stéphanie had to do now was to create the perfect dish. She continued: “it was very simple, but it was not beautiful. It was very tasty because it had the caviar and the sweetness of the creamy potato. I decided that I needed to create a very beautiful dish with the same taste.”
But this was not to be an easy task. When Pearl Lam asked how long this took, Stéphanie replied that “it might take four to six months to create such a dish.”
Pearl Lam asked if Stéphanie had been successful, and her answer was positive. The dish is a roaring success in la Scène, “it’s one of my signature dishes this year” Stéphanie replied.
Pearl Lam’s questions revealed that Stéphanie has been very successful in her career as a chef. Yet her success in the business did not materialise overnight; it required perseverance.
It took Stéphanie six months of effort to create her latest dish, her career is certainly not for the faint-hearted.
When Pearl Lam asked Stéphanie if she had any advice to pass on to the younger generation, she replied “you must be passionate and never give up.”
It is clear that Stephanie follows her own advice; her passion for her culinary creations shines through her work. Her determination and drive are evident in her six-month journey to create a beautiful and spectacular dish.
Pearl Lam expressed her admiration for Stéphanie, who became a sous-chef at 26 years old. “It was a great challenge for me to be a sous-chef in a two Michelin star restaurant” Stéphanie told Pearl Lam. But she does not regret any of the hard work, “it helped me to become a professional chef” she added to Pearl Lam.
“By 28, my Sous-chef left and so I became head chef” said Stéphanie. That’s certainly an impressive resume.
The two women have both worked hard in order to have successful careers. Perseverance and passion are two factors that the young need in order to follow in Pearl Lam and Stéphanie’s footsteps.
Written by: The Producer, The Pearl Lam Podcast
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