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Chef
Laurent Tasic
During his professional career as a chef, which began in 1977
in France, Chef Laurent has received every possible award and
accolade from the tough culinary critics of France and has
continued to gather honors while in Martinique and later Fort
Lauderdale.
Chef Tasic was born in the Italian city of Trieste and, as a
child, he watched his grandmother bake huge loaves of crusty
bread. It was then that he fell in love with cooking.
His family's small vineyards produced grapes for wine, ham was
home cured and eggs were collected daily. There were abundant
vegetables in the summer garden, which were preserved for
winter and there were herbs to be used in summer cooking and
dried for winter.
Chef Tasic remembers the great joy of his grandmother's and
mother's cooking. When the family moved to France in the early
1960's, his mother opened a neighborhood cafe where Tasic
helped her with cooking and acquired his first experience of
restaurant operation.
After graduating from the Lycee, he decided to study
architecture, but he found architecture dull. Tasic enrolled
in Lesdiguieres, L'cole Hoteliere in 1972 and in Paris Cordon
Bleu Cullinaire where he graduated with honors in 1977. He
proceeded to hone his skills in some of the finest kitchens in
Paris and the French Riviera. At the age of 24, Chef Tasic was
honored by Paris-Match as the best young chef of France. He
was also honored by Best of Gault-Millau and later by Mobil
Travel Guide as one of the best restaurants in America.
Like most chefs, Laurent Tasic dreamed of owning a restaurant
and opened Haras Restaurant outside of Paris. Because of its
very rural location, Haras became a weekend getaway for
Parisians. There were stables where guests could ride horses,
but the greatest attractions were the wonderful country meals,
served amid antiques that were all for sale.
Despite the notable success and accolades that his restaurant
received, one very cold morning as he was defrosting water
pipes in the kitchen, Chef Tasic decided to look for an
opportunity in a warmer climate. With his wife and two young
sons, he moved to Martinique in 1980, where he opened
LeFoulard Restaurant. He stayed in Martinique until 1985, when
he moved to Fort Lauderdale and opened the highly acclaimed
Studio One Cafe in 1986. Studio One Cafe received every
possible culinary award and Chef Tasic's fame grew.
After Studio One Cafe in 1993, Chef Tasic took a few months
off to perform culinary consulting in Moscow and the Cayman
Islands.
Still, his desire to have his own restaurant was strong. When
he heard that Sage Restaurant in Fort Lauderdale was for sale,
he purchased Sage and now weaves his culinary magic at this
charming restaurant.
Chef Laurent at the Monaco Grand Prix
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Chef Laurent at the Monaco Grand Prix |
