A QUIET PLACE

On a deserted island in Patagonia, Francis Mallmann sets fire to the conventions of modern-day cooking—and the odd fish and potato, too

By Coco Marett

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.” Moments of silence and observation like these are sacred to Mallmann. Which is…

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Tatler Hong Kong (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2023

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