France pulled out its culinary big guns today for one of the greatest kitchen challenges ever: cooking lunch for the largest one-day gathering of world leaders in history. Five chefs, each awarded stars by the demanding judges of the Michelin food guide, joined forces for a gastronomic tour de force to defend France’s culinary reputation at a climate summit in Paris.
Undaunted by the challenge of catering to banquets with their familiar perils of rubber chicken and agonisingly long waits, the quintet sought to tempt the palates of 150 leaders, from US President Barack Obama to China’s President Xi Jinping or Russia’s Vladimir Putin. “It was a very good lunch, a surprising lunch, very friendly and relaxed,” Albanian President Bujar Nishani said after leaving his table.