A French cutler reinvigorates the traditions around tableware
A knife. How could it influence the gastronomic experience? This was what I asked myself as I sat contemplating the knife to my right while feverishly waiting for the first course—thin slices of yellow zucchini poached in an oyster jus—at the innovative restaurant, Pearl Morissette. The knife, characterized by its rapier-thin blade, its unpretentious elegance, and “LR” engraved in a riff on a skull-and-crossbones motif, showcased true artisanal craftsmanship. I had seen these knives once before, at Chef Raymond Charles’ restaurant, Raymond’s, in St. John’s, Newfoundland—another restaurant that shook up the Canadian culinary scene some years ago. All its qualities intrigued me, making me question if a knife could, in fact, impact our culinary experiences.
A year later, on the winding roads that lead to Thiers, I found myself ready to meet Roland Lannier—the cutler who embarked on a pursuit to redefine the role of the knife in the gastronomic experience and the values it conveys to each guest.
“I wanted to fight against the Art de la Table, it had all become incredibly bland.”
By Roland’s standards, the tableware industry, otherwise known in France as the Art de la Table, and most notably the knife industry, had been frozen in time for decades—stuck in a period heavily influenced by Art Deco. It had faded away into the background, offering no additional value to the fine dining experience. Moreover, ingrained in an archaic vision, favouring the use of precious, non-renewable, materials such as ivory, horn, and exotic woods, the Art de Table began to distance itself from present-day standards and expectations. “I wanted to fight against the Art de la Table, it had all become incredibly bland.” explained Roland as he welcomed me into his workshop, accompanied by his trusty companion Léon, a black French Bulldog. That is why in 2014, inspired by the punk philosophy of disruption, Roland took on the challenge to stir the pot around the knife industry to reinvent its function and position in the gastronomical experience.
Despite the prevailing opinion that casts the punk movement as the product of dissipated and disaffected youth, Roland has drawn his inspiration from it. “To disrupt the social norms,” as he puts it, Roland uses this philosophy to guide him in his undertakings. “This ideology challenges the ways we see our environment as a means to enrich ideas and rethink our system,” explains Roland. As it did for the music industry, the punk movement influenced a vast number of sectors, allowing growth and progression through liberation from social norms. “Yves Saint Laurent, followed by Jean-Paul Gaultier, these are people who disrupted their industry by doing things their own way. Today, large corporations are allowing little sparks of madness into their processes because of the punks who carved the path before them.”
In the 1980s, the world of wine was even disrupted by a “punk revolution.” A small group of French winemakers led a radical fight against the use of chemical products and their ecological repercussions, bringing forth artisanal methods of production. This call to challenge contemporary methods in the wine industry propelled the emergence of the natural wine movement, which continues to make inroads today.
However, it was a spark in the world of gastronomy that inspired Roland to act. Chefs such as Ferran Adria et Yves Camdeborde had already laid the first stepping stones towards a new culinary experience; one that travelled beyond the plate. Paving the way for today’s great chefs, the likes of René Redzepi, Magnus Nilsson, and James Lowe, to propel the culinary industry into new territories. “Gastronomy today is the power to open new perspectives,” opines Roland. “There are new ways of interacting with guests that allow chefs to cultivate their differences and affirm their own identity. You no longer sit at a table for an experience that is solely found on the plate. Everything that surrounds it must transcend you into the chef’s universe.”
The notion that a dish, or even an object, can surpass its primary function and open new perspectives is what drives Roland in his pursuit. Fabricated as unique art pieces, each of his knives follows a basic principle: to disrupt the user, as much by their function as by the values they embody.
To find his own voice, Roland revisited the shape of the knife, questioning the efficiency of the common shape. Each of his pieces, distinguished by an ambiguous shape with an atypical sharp edge, is conceptualized from an elegant design that also favours the efficiency of the blade. Daydreaming guests risk the chance of cutting themselves should they not pay attention: a symbolic statement made by Roland to take back the knife’s position in the culinary experience. With a new awareness comes new opportunities, one that Roland takes to transmit the values he holds near and dear by transcribing them into the singular design of each piece.
Roland has always envisioned a goal greater than himself: to liberate the knife from the confines of the industry that limits its value to the use of “noble” materials. Aware of the ecological and economic baggage involved in using these materials, Roland selects elements that are often considered dirty or junk. From metal shards to Scottish tartan (an homage to the punk world), Roland detaches himself from the “fanfares” of knife making, by putting forward creativity and craftsmanship.
“Sometimes it’s subtle and sometimes not at all. When I conceived the model made from aluminum shards, it was clearly an homage to the factory worker. I voluntarily selected a material that evoked filth and impurity, and I placed it in an immaculate and sterile environment; where hygiene is a religion.”
With a fondness to disrupt well-endowed and complacent guests, Roland addresses themes that prompt reflection and a certain reassessment of life: ecology, politics, culture, religion. “Sometimes it’s subtle and sometimes not at all. When I conceived the model made from aluminum scraps, it was clearly an homage to the factory worker. I voluntarily selected a material that evoked filth and impurity, and I placed it in an immaculate and sterile environment; where hygiene is a religion.”
No matter the project, Roland showcases his unique ingenuity and remarkable know-how. The day of my visit, he was working on a prototype for a collaborative project with the Michelin-starred restaurant Corner House in Singapore. Inspired by the shift towards zero-waste, and to echo the dish with which the knives would be served, the handle was made from dehydrated onion skins salvaged from the kitchen itself. This touch of singularity is what distinguishes Roland’s craft and transforms each of his knives from a tool into a masterpiece. But like all brilliant creators, Roland does not limit himself to the culinary industry.
“A business is also a political act.”
Establishing his business in the back of an alley in the centre of Thiers, Roland conceptualized his business model inspired by l'entreprise Libérée—liberated companies. “I believe that in today’s day and age, it is not only important for businesses to have a creative and visual identity, but to also have an ethical one. A business is also a political act,” expresses Roland. Locally-made, circular economy, and ecological awareness are all fundamental values that are at the heart of his entrepreneurial venture.
However, it is especially his business model and management style that make Roland’s company so remarkably different from his contemporaries. Targeting issues around the awareness and value given to artisans today is particularly important. “The biggest scam that we (artisans) must accept is to be relegated to the lowest tiers of society, while we are often the best technicians in our industries. And all because it was established as such, and that artisans cannot make a lot of money because they are passionate about what they do.” That is why he was determined to flip this accepted vision upside down and to promote fair compensation and recognition of artisans allowing them to prosper professionally and personally.
“I put in place a system where I simply count points. Meaning that I look at what my employee produced in the last month, and I determine a bonus, from a transparent mathematical equation, to which he is rightfully due.”
Aware that everyone dedicates a considerable, non-negotiable, part of their life to working, Roland strives to give meaning to his work and that of his collaborators. His system of remuneration aims to be the most equitable: employees take back a percentage of the profits made by the business, and an additional, variable sum is attributed to each relative to their contribution – thanks to a points system. By doing so, he gives each employee the freedom and the responsibility of his or her own work, valuing their contribution within the collective business with great transparency.
“I don’t want tomorrow’s cities to solely be filled with banks and insurance brokers.”
Furthermore, to preserve the local social and economic system, Roland dismissed the option of an ecommerce platform. He chose to dedicate himself to the conservation of direct relationships with regional boutiques, who are also specialists in their industry. “I don’t want tomorrow’s cities to solely be filled with banks and insurance brokers.” To solidify his client relationships within the culinary industry, Roland first chooses a role as a client before becoming a business partner. He dines in all the restaurants he wishes to work with, to create meaningful relationships filled with confidence and trust, to service society.
From social awareness to expanding the culinary experience, Roland Lannier crafts each of his knives as culinary iconoclasts. Nested in the heart of Thiers, a historic centre of knife-making, this visionary strives to revolutionize the Art de la Table thanks to a simple question. A question which has led him to progress and disrupt the environments around him: Why not?
Photo essay by: Sébastien Dubois-Didcock
First Published in The New Traditional - Book by Beside Media