What started out as a wild idea is about to become a reality: Luxembourg chefs sharing their stages, aka kitchens, with musicians of our orchestra. After several months of regular meetups, passionate discussions and equally passionate writing, the resulting cookbook will soon be available for all to enjoy. Published by Schortgen Editions on 11.11.2025, Oui, Chef! invites foodies and music lovers alike to discover twenty-two original recipes, each composed by four hands.
Gastronomy and music have more in common than you might think
Bringing music and gastronomy is certainly an unusual project. At first glance, these two worlds seem to have little in common: the former stimulating the ear while the latter appeals mainly to the taste buds. Yet appearance can be deceptive – as pointed out by several composers.
The great master of opera Gioacchino Rossini, for example, liked to use the vocabulary of food to talk about musical composition: «I’m looking for music notes», he writes, «but all that comes to mind are pâtés, truffles and other such things!». And what about those foodies who, after a good dinner, might say they just tasted a «symphony of flavours»?
And so, it appears that music scores and plates aren’t as far removed as one might think. It is this particular connection that makes Oui, Chef! so relevant. Stephan Gehmacher, Director of the Philharmonie, writes in the cookbook’s preface: «Whether the ingredients are spices or music notes, whether the audience is gathered around a table or in front of the stage in a concert hall, the same search for Beauty is at work; the same desire to surpass oneself in order to produce a harmonious whole and to share it with people.»
Twenty-two recipes to make at home
«Backstage» at a Michelin-star restaurant, behind the counter of a trendy bar in the capital, or at the table of a family-run inn: nineteen members of the Luxembourg Philharmonic spent over a year travelling around the kitchens of the Grand Duchy to create twenty-two original recipes.
The cookbook’s contents include boldly simple dishes – such as the delicious Cacio e Pepe spaghetti chosen by the orchestra’s former Music Director, Gustavo Gimeno – as well as complex flavours from around the world (let’s bet few of us will have heard of bonito flakes or mizuna before trying the Yosenabe suggested by Japanese chef Hajime Miyamae and violinist Gayané Grigoryan!). Fans of the Grand Duchy and its traditions will not be disappointed either: the book revisits classics with a modern twist (bouchées à la reine, Kniddelen, lentil soup, etc.). In addition to the savoury menu, those with a sweet tooth get four desserts to indulge in, along with two cocktails for special occasions.
The recipes in Oui, Chef! are not unlike the collection of musical pieces that make up a musical season or a concert programme: bold, diverse, sometimes even downright surprising – just like the personalities who crafted them.
More than just a cookbook: exclusive conversations and personal insights
The notion of «personality» is in fact at the heart of the book. Inbetween recipes, interviews allow readers to get to know the chefs and musicians who participated in the project. Captured «in the action» around the stove or while relaxing at the table after the aprons have been hung up, these conversations reveal the many similarities between the worlds of cooks and musicians: stress management, daily routines, attachment to one’s instrument(s), risk-taking, the challenge of passing on knowledge, the necessary balance between tradition and innovation…The music journalist Luc Boentges, who conducted the interviews, describes it as a «captivating» experience. «I had never really been aware of these points of convergence before», he explains in the book’s conclusion.
Lively, personal and often sparked with humour, these exchanges are what makes Oui, Chef! stand out. This unusual cookbook comes with a double promise: to delight your taste buds and to give a new flavour to your next encounters with the Luxembourg Philharmonic.