Njørden, Swedish passion on the Vaud heights
We were due to meet on the occasion of my podcast Clap de Faim. Our respective schedules forced me to switch from the audio version to a written account. No matter, the meeting with Philippe Deslarzes took place during a high-flying gastronomic aside. In the space of just a few years, this talented chef, with his impressive résumé, has risen to the top of the Swiss gastronomic scene. Nestling in the heart of the village of Aubonne, his establishment is making headlines with its Nordic cuisine, subtly blending authenticity and innovation. Portrait of an affable and discreet person who assumes his choices and has no intention of stopping there.
Christmas cookie
The story begins with the memory of the smell of Christmas cookies coming out of his mother’s oven. Philippe Deslarzes has “always had his head in the kitchen”, as he likes to say. With over 400m2 of vegetable garden and orchard at his disposal, this plant-based immersion was his playground. “I discovered the wonderful world of vegetables and fruit at a very early age. When you’re a child, you can just bite into a carrot or a raspberry and make up your own mind”. During the summer months, he would pick small potatoes and rinse them in the stream that runs through his family’s garden in northern Vaud.
His mother is Swedish and his father Valaisan. High dignitaries of the ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross), the duo traveled the world and its geopolitical conflicts before settling in Switzerland and starting a family. Young Philippe was immersed in Scandinavian culture while growing up in a Swiss environment. Vacations were spent in Sweden, and without really knowing it, Philippe Deslarzes immersed himself in this northern culture with its festivals, traditions, decorations and gastronomy. “I’ve always loved cooking, I’ve always loved eating, but I didn’t know I was predestined for this profession.
Army rank
Gifted in mathematics, he is as attracted to science as he is to cooking. “I’ve always been very comfortable with maths. In any profession, even in my job as a chef, you have to know how to count”. Influenced by his older brother, who had briefly invented himself as a chef, he landed a cooking internship with the great Carlo Crisci in Cossonay. A revelation! Rigor, technical skills, creativity, inventiveness and a certain kind of freedom…. all came together for Philippe Deslarzes to feel his gastronomic wings grow. He joined the army in 2009, before pushing open the door of a certain Didier de Courten’s restaurant in Sion. “As well as challenging myself physically, military service also helped me understand how to manage a team and myself,” he says.
Philippe Deslarzes was undoubtedly born under a lucky gastronomic star, as he joined the brigade at Crissier’s Hôtel de Ville restaurant under chef Philippe Rochat. In the midst of the transfer of power to Benoît Violier, Rochat instilled in the young chef the notion of humility and discipline in the culinary arts. The work is intense, the pressure immense and the hours are incalculable. Health reasons forced Philippe Deslarzes to take time out to rest and reflect. “I was giving my all to my job without thinking about my health. At the time, we worked from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. with no breaks. That’s the way the business was back then, and like good soldiers, we adapted. Fortunately, things have changed.
Shipping container
After spending some time in the catering department of chefs Michel Hug and Lazare Saguer, Philippe Deslarzes changed tack, joining the ranks of a kitchen brigade in room service at the Beau-Rivage in Ouchy, before moving on to the production teams at the Royal Savoy in Lausanne. A radical change in gastronomic style, but one that fleshed out his career path, leading him, unconsciously, straight into entrepreneurship. “I’ve always wanted to add strings to my bow. I don’t have to be in the best place in the world, it just has to give me something. Last stop at the École Hôtelière de Lausanne before sketching out the beginnings of his future restaurant.
It all started with a crowdfunding campaign, which worked immediately and enabled the chef and his partner Victor Lequet to release funds. The basic project was a shipping container converted into a gourmet restaurant that could travel. The concept came to the end of the health crisis, which reshuffled the duo’s cards. Philippe Deslarzes doesn’t panic, takes a step back and fine-tunes his gastronomic idea while spending time with his young son. The two partners then decided to find a permanent location for their innovative concept. “We didn’t want to give the impression that we were riding the wave of the Nordic trend. Our values run much deeper.
Marine treasures
Despite major renovation work, including the replacement of orange tiles, the chef fell under the spell of this new space with great potential. The program includes an intimate gourmet restaurant on the second floor, a brasserie on the first floor and four hotel rooms within the building. In terms of cuisine, he was determined to create a restaurant dedicated exclusively to lake and sea treasures. A risk that has proved to be a successful gamble. “Satisfying a clientele eager to discover new things is a daily task. But it’s satisfying to see the results,” confides Philippe Deslarzes. As time goes by, he continues on his way with brio, despite the difficulties associated with the profession. In just three years, his restaurant Njørden has been awarded 16 Gault&Millau points and a Michelin star. Touched and honored by such distinctions, the chef has not finished surprising us.
