Laurent Manrique
Chef/Partner

When I go deep into the process of creating a dish, I always look for an inspiration to carry me even further into it. I want to bring something to the product, but I also look for what each of its elements gives back to me. It’s a simple idea, but it can be challenging to achieve.

Many titles can be used to describe Laurent Manrique – chef, restaurateur, wine-maker and humanitarian. As Chef Laurent Manrique has learned, combining simplicity with challenge walks a tightrope between passion for one’s craft and a desire to constantly seek new opportunities. One of his career’s most significant accomplishments in achieving that balance was introducing his renowned Gascon cooking to contemporary seafood-centric Aqua. “It was a whole new adventure,” he says, “but one I was ready for. I needed to take a challenge like this.” The challenge has been succeeded.

Laurent learned of his love for cooking while growing up in the Gascon village of Roques. His grandmother Aurélie, whose time-honored pot-au-feu recipe has proved to be a cornerstone of inspiration in Laurent's cuisine, awakened his awareness of his passion for the craft while preparing meals in the family auberge. Embarking on a culinary career at age 14 led him to an apprenticeship with Master Chef Roger Duffour, followed by training in Paris, where he worked with Master Chefs Yan Jacquot and Claude Deligne at Michelin-starred Taillevent and Toit de Passy. Under the encouragement of Master Chef Michel Rostang, Laurent came to Los Angeles in 1991 to work at restaurants Fennel and Rex.

Just one year later Laurent moved to New York City to take over as Le Grand Comptoir’s Executive Chef. His time at the renowned bistro was followed by an executive chef position at the Waldorf Astoria's Peacock Alley. It proved a wise decision, noted Ruth Reichl while at the New York Times. “Mr. Manrique is justly famous for his Gascon food; the classic dishes are particularly good,” she wrote in 1995, as New Yorkers received his native specialties to high acclaim In 1998, the same year he was chosen as Bon Appetit’s Rising Star Chef, Laurent left the Waldorf to become partner and Executive Chef of Gertrude's.

Shortly thereafter, the West Coast beckoned. He left New York in 1999 to join San Francisco’s Campton Place as Executive Chef where he earned the luxurious restaurant high rankings in both Gourmet’s “Top 10 Best Restaurants in the Bay Area,” and Food and Wine’s “50 Best Hotel Restaurants.”

In the spring of 2003, he joined Aqua as Executive Chef. His efforts made an impact on the restaurant that local press made evident in just a few months. “Laurent Manrique, the new chef at Aqua, has done the impossible. He stepped into a well-established restaurant with a loyal local clientele and a high profile…international reputation and made it better,” observed The San Francisco Examiner. Soon after, 7 x 7 Magazine‘s Sara Deseran echoed “everything Manrique does is stunning. In fact, after 12 years this dining destination is better than ever.” The San Francisco Chronicle’s Michael Bauer applauded Manrique’s cooking as “a three-ring circus – he believes in contrasting bold flavors on the plate…the play of rich, salty, and acidic was magnificent…” In San Francisco Magazine, Josh Sens gave accolades for several elements of Manrique’s menu, including his “stately lobster pot-au-feu…a wonderful, well-balanced dish that dresses French traditions in contemporary flair,” while Patrica Unterman rhapsodized in the Independent about “Manrique’s Basque-style Atlantic cod on a lush piperade (that) speaks from the soul.”

The challenge has been exceeded. Year after year, Laurent’s elegant, classic culinary style and renowned service bring Aqua tremendous praise. Soon after earning the restaurant two highly coveted Michelin stars, Laurent was selected as one of the participating chefs in the prestigious Masters of Food and Wine event in Carmel. Aqua’s 3½-star rating from the San Francisco Chronicle and third place ranking on the Wine Spectator’s “San Francisco’s Best Restaurants” list follow notable Robb Report’s “Best of the Best of 2004,” San Francisco Magazine’s “2004 Best in Chow” and 7 x 7 Magazine’s “Best Business Lunch.” Next came additional Aqua-affiliated ventures: Café de la Presse and Rouge et Blanc Wine Bar now enjoy recognition among the city’s most popular dining destinations.

In 2007, he uncovered a fresh, new opportunity in friend and colleague Christopher Condy. That summer, the two united to form a unique joint venture, resulting in the creation of C&L Partners, a restaurant development company. As founding and managing partner, Laurent helped guide C&L through the re-opening of the Fifth Floor restaurant at the Palomar Hotel for the Kimpton Group in winter 2008. This was followed by the grand opening of Urban Tavern at the San Francisco Hilton in summer 2008. Both have been tremendous personal and professional achievements and have made additional impacts on the dining scene.

California has given Laurent’s cuisine a new world of ingredients, as well as he himself the opportunity to indulge in an equally passionate pursuit, winemaking. Since 2004, Laurent has been involved in vineyard ventures here and abroad, where he has been instrumental in the creation of several wines. Together with Emmanuel Kemiji of Miura, he helped handcraft the 2003 Aqua Pinot Noir, Cuvée Manrique from the Hudson Vineyard in Carneros and the 2003 C & L Cabernet Sauvignon, Caldwell Vineyard, Cuvée Manrique, Napa Valley, California. Award-winning 2003 Acvs Chardonnay from the Talley Vineyard in the Arroyo Grande Valley showcases the first of many efforts by Acvs’s wine project, a partnership formed by Manrique, Kemiji, and Charles Condy that will focus on white wines.

In addition to winemaking, Laurent focuses on a variety of philanthropic causes. Of particular note is his own creation, “Taste and Tribute.” This popular annual event came about in 2001, when a longtime interest in Buddhism inspired him to direct his efforts toward the Tibetan Aid Project. “Taste and Tribute,” an evening of camaraderie and fine food, convenes 20 celebrated chefs from around the Bay Area to support the Berkeley-based organization. Furthermore Laurent became an active board member of FOHBOH, a social business community launched for the business individuals involved in the restaurant industry.

Laurent continues to see challenges as opportunities, and seeks them out whenever possible. “The moment there is no more risk, ego takes its place, and the challenge is gone,” he says. “Risk should be present to the end of my life. Without it, there is no quest for the best.”