Francis Mallmann on ‘the truth’ about cooking, and what lights his fire

As a chef, Francis Mallmann does the unthinkable—he leaves dirty tables untouched, uncleaned, overnight. But there is method to his madness. “When I invite people home for dinner, I never clean the scene. I leave everything as it was when everybody left,” he says. “In the morning, I wake up very early, and I sit and look at everything and try to read what happened the night before. There’s a gesture in every glass, a story in the napkins and dirty dishes. Then, slowly, I will start to tidy up.” He pauses, then adds, “There’s an equal amount of beauty in tidiness and untidiness. It’s like happiness and sadness—they are great friends, and they must live together.” Read more >