For Chef Akrame Benallal, cooking is not simply craft—it is an act of emotion, intuition, and artistic expression. Born in France and raised in Oran, Algeria, the Michelin-starred chef draws deeply from the flavors of his childhood while channeling the discipline and creativity honed during formative years working with culinary legends like Pierre Gagnaire and Ferran Adrià. At his Paris restaurant, Akrame, he approaches each plate the way a painter approaches a canvas: with sensitivity to texture, color, rhythm, and contrast. His “tradinnovation” philosophy—melding tradition with curiosity and experimentation—has become his signature, guiding a cuisine that evolves daily according to mood, memory, and seasonal produce.
Benallal’s world extends far beyond the kitchen. He collaborates with architects, designers, ceramicists, and artists to build immersive environments where food and atmosphere form a seamless experience. Each service becomes a new exhibition, each menu a narrative that unfolds through sensory cues and emotional landscapes. A serial entrepreneur with projects ranging from Atelier Vivanda to Shirvan Café Métisse, Akrame continually reinvents himself while maintaining a steadfast devotion to sincerity and soul.
In this conversation, he speaks with Whitewall about composition, collaboration, emotional imagery, and why he believes the future of cuisine lies in meaning—not luxury.
Courtesy of Chef Akrame Benallal.
Courtesy of Restaurant Akrame.
WHITEWALL: Your work is often described as emotional, almost painterly. How do you define creativity in cooking today?
AKRAME BENALLAL: For me, creativity in cooking is a deliberate act, like painting. I think in terms of materials, colors, and textures. I compose with ingredients the way an artist composes on a canvas. The process is intuitive but guided by emotion. My cooking becomes a visual language—each plate an emotional image, an expression of feeling before taste.
“I compose with ingredients the way an artist composes on a canvas,”
Chef Akrame Benallal
WW: You often describe cooking as composition. Can you explain your process more precisely?
AB: I don’t start with a recipe, but with a sensation. Form comes from matter—from the density of a root, the transparency of a broth, the way a color can evoke serenity or intensity. I treat each dish like a collage: layers, tensions, transparencies, contrasts. In the end, it’s all about harmony between what is seen, touched, and tasted.
The Restaurant as a Collaborative, Cultural Space
Courtesy of Restaurant Akrame.
Courtesy of Restaurant Akrame.
WW: How has this approach transformed your idea of the restaurant?
AB: For me, a restaurant is not just a place to eat; it’s a cultural space, almost a gallery. It must evolve, move, reinvent itself. Each service is an exhibition, each menu a chapter. The restaurant becomes a creative tool. We invite guests to discover, not to consume. I collaborate with architects, designers, and artists whose sensibilities help shape a world—not just a meal.
WW: Collaboration seems central to your practice. How do you choose the artists or architects you work with?
AB: It’s a conversation. I am drawn to artists driven by the same curiosity—ceramicists, sculptors, painters who explore materiality and rhythm. Together, we give shape meaning. The tableware, the lighting, the gestures of service all contribute to a shared language. Collaboration allows boundaries between disciplines to dissolve. The kitchen becomes a studio.
WW: You often organize your menus as thematic series—Light, Black, Red, Root, Matter, Memory. What do they represent?
AB: They are archives of emotion. Each theme corresponds to a state of mind or a sensory landscape. Light speaks to transparency and clarity. Black explores depth and mystery. Root connects us to the earth. Matter celebrates texture. Memory evokes remembrance and nostalgia. Together, they form a living library—the ongoing story of our creative work.
Blurring the Lines Between Art and Cuisine
Courtesy of Restaurant Akrame.
Courtesy of Chef Akrame Benallal.
WW: What role does architecture play in the experience you create?
AB: Architecture is essential: it shapes emotion before the first bite. Light, acoustics, the color of the walls—they are all ingredients. I like to think of the restaurant as a living artwork. Every element, from the furniture to the ceramics to the uniforms, is designed with intention. Everything participates in the same dialogue.
“I like to think of the restaurant as a living artwork,”
Chef Akrame Benallal
WW: Many chefs today explore transdisciplinary practices. Do you think the boundary between art and cuisine is disappearing?
AB: Yes, absolutely. The boundary between design, art, and gastronomy has become permeable. Chefs collaborate with musicians, filmmakers, architects. We all play with the same emotional tools. What matters is the narrative—the ability to create an experience that transforms the everyday into something extraordinary. The restaurant of the future will be a space of total art.
WW: You often mention the idea of an “emotional image” as the foundation of your cooking. Can you explain?
AB: Every dish must move you. It’s not only about the palate but also about memory, atmosphere, rhythm. The composition of colors and textures should touch you emotionally. As in painting, there are layers, tensions, reliefs. What remains after the meal is not the taste, but the feeling.
The Spirited Future of Gastronomy
Courtesy of Restaurant Akrame.
Courtesy of Restaurant Akrame.
WW: What is your vision for the future of gastronomy?
AB: I imagine a future where cooking is less about luxury and more about meaning. Where restaurants become creative laboratories, spaces for exchanges between disciplines. Chefs will create experiences blending sound, light, movement, and flavor. The goal will be to stir emotion, spark connection, remind people that they are alive.
“The goal will be to stir emotion, spark connection, remind people that they are alive,”
Chef Akrame Benallal
WW: Finally, what continues to inspire you after all these years?
AB: The unknown. Every day in the kitchen is a new experience, a new composition. I am inspired by the dialogue between materials and emotions, by the way a color can transform a dish or a scent awaken a memory. As long as there is emotion, there is creation.
