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Retail experience management based on persona:
The case of chef in haute-cuisine restaurants
Delphine Dion
Associate Professor
IAE de Paris, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
21 rue Broca, 75005 Paris, France
tel : 00 33 6 64 63 56 44 - fax : 00 33 1 53 55 27 01
Eric Arnould
Professor
School of Management, University of Bath
Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom
Adjunct Visiting Professor
Department of Management and Marketing, Southern Denmark University
Campusvej 55
Odense C 5230
Denmark
Authors thanks Elodie de Boissieu for her help in collecting the data.
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Retail experience management based on persona:
The case of chef in haute-cuisine restaurants
Abstract
How do master chefs reproduce their art on an “industrial” scale? We argue that haute-cuisine
retail strategy relies on the particular persona of the haute-cuisine chef. We show how master
chefs have disconnected cooking creation and execution and thus have split the persona of the
chef into a master chef persona anchored in art and alchemy, and an executive chef persona
embedded in alchemic techniques. This strategy works both to render tangible the master
chef’s singularity and to industrialize the service offer. We offer some implications for retail
marketing in which the persona of a key personage is at stake.
Keywords: Retail experience, Haute-Cuisine, Restaurant, Art, Chef, Service industrialization.
Résumé
Comment les chefs dupliquent-ils leur art dans plusieurs restaurants ? Nous montrons que les
stratégies de développement de la haute-cuisine s’appuient sur la déconnection entre les deux
éléments clés de la persona du chef : la création et l’exécution. Pour ouvrir plusieurs
restaurants sous leur nom, les chefs dispatchent ces deux éléments entre plusieurs individus:
le master chef en charge de la création et les chefs exécutifs en charge de l’exécution. Cela
permet d’industrialiser l’offre de service tout en conservant la singularité du master chef.
L’article propose un ensemble de recommandations lorsque la persona est au cœur de l’offre.
Mots clés: Experience, Haute-Cuisine, Restaurant, Art, Chef, Industrialization de service.
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Retail experience management based on persona:
The case of chef in haute-cuisine restaurants
Master chef Joël Robuchon announced in May 2011 the opening of two restaurants in
Singapore: L’Atelier de Joel Robuchon, a workshop-inspired concept with chefs closely
interacting with guests, and the more formal Joël Robuchon Restaurant. Robuchon has
received more stars from Michelin, the leading guide to fine dining, than any other chef in the
world with a total of 26 for his 22 restaurants that are carrying his name (from Paris and other
European cities to Las Vegas, New York, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Taipei and Macau). We can
thus wonder about this retail strategy. What explains the explosive success of the chef and of
haute cuisine on the global stage? How do master chefs reproduce their art on an “industrial”
scale?
To respond to these questions, we base our argument on a theoretical perspective anchored on
the concept of persona (McCracken 1989; Herskovitz and Crystal 2010). We examine the
characteristics of chef persona, how effective retail strategy can be based on a persona, and
what role the persona plays in retail industrialization.
Our data analysis shows that the persona of the chef is characterized by both an alchemic
expertise and an artistic sensibility. The chef is considered as a modern alchemist who
masters the transmutation rules and as an artist who can create culinary artwork. We
demonstrate that these two chef persona attributes are central to understand the retail models
and the industrialization process of the experience. Our discussion contributes to understand
the nature and role of persona in retail marketing management.
1. Theoretical background
The concept of persona derives from the Platonic concept of ardielypos, or original forms.
But the word persona comes from the Latin “sonare,” meaning to speak through. It originally
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described an actor’s mask, worn to permit spectators to clearly identify the characteristics of
stereotypical (original) personages. Much later, Jung took up this idea in analytic psychology
to describe that part of the personality that organizes a person’s relationship with society, the
manner in which people conform to a recognized or predefined personage in order to play a
social role.
Persona has been studied in a number of disciplines: rhetoric (Deighton 1985; Deighton,
Rober and McQueen 1989), psychology (Allport 1937; Hall and Nordby 1973), speech act
theory (Austin 1978; Pratt 1977; Searle 1969 1979), communication (Fisher 1984), consumer
culture theory (McCracken 1989), advertising (Stern 1991, 1993, 1994), semiotics (Mick
1986), and has recently made its way into the branding lexicon (Herskovitz and Crystal 2010).
Persona is a conventional narrative construction (McCracken 1989; Herskovitz and Crystal
2010). Thus, the term refers to clusters of images or symbols (Stern 1995, 165) and may
constitute an archetype or a fiction deeply embedded in the consumer imagination. A
commercial or brand persona is the “someone” created within a marketing communications
effort (Stern 1994, 389) and this we argue may include haute-cuisine chefs. Brand persona has
been shown to induce emotional bonds with an audience (Herskovits and Crystal 2009;
Russell, Norman, and Heckler 2004). If brand personality refers to a set of human
characteristics associated with a brand (Belk 1988), brand persona folds personality traits and
psychographic details into a caricature (Keller 2010; Stern 1991; 1993, 1995), e.g., the tragic
hero, the blond bombshell. Significantly, as the movie industry regularly reminds us, chefs are
among classic persona. They are stereotyped by movies and televisions shows (Ottenbacher
and Harrington, 2009). Persona has also become more central to corporate marketing strategy
generally. Firms often construct person to represent key market segments. Persona is some
kind of transportable concept.
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Although persona is fundamental in strategic marketing and in communication, we assert that
it can also be a key element in retailing management. Our aim is to understand how to
implement a retail strategy based on persona. We examine how haute-cuisine chefs duplicate
their persona through different locations and consequently industrialize the haute-cuisine
experience.
2. Methodology
To analyze the system behind persona retail management in haute cuisine we interviewed 28
informants: 16 persons working in haute-cuisine restaurants in France and abroad (chefs,
cooks, wine steward, maître d’hôtel), 6 cultural intermediaries (cooking and marketing
consultants, gastronomic critique, cooking book editor) and 6 clients (occasional and regular).
Our goal was to interview informants from the entire field of haute cuisine (producers,
consumers and cultural intermediaries), and thus to get crossed perspectives on the field, to
highlight divergences and convergences (Becker, 1982). We also looked for diversity of
informants profile in terms of haute-cuisine experience (cf. table 1). Informants were recruited
using a snowball technique. Interviews were non-directive and organized around the theme of
haute cuisine. They lasted from 1 to 4 hours. We transcribed and coded interviews using open
coding and then attempted to synthesize and relate data to conceptual topics of interest, such
as retailing, persona and other major categories that emerged from data interpretation and
literature review (Kates, 2004).
Haute cuisine chefs and employees
Alexandre Chef and owner of a 2* restaurant in Normandy; ex-executive chef of a 3*
French chef in Japan
Arnaud Pastry chef in a 5* hotel in Switzerland; ex pastry chef of a 3* restaurant in
Paris
Christophe Chef in a 2* restaurant in Picardie
Christophe Wine director in a 1* restaurant in Las Vegas (restaurant under the name of
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a French 3* chef)
Frédéric Chef in a 1* restaurant in Paris
Gabriel Maitre d’hôtel in a the restaurant of a 5*hotel in Paris
Geoffroy Chef and owner of a bistrot in Paris (Bib gourmand) ; ex-executive chef in a
3* restaurant in Paris
Michael Chef in a 1* restaurant in Paris
Pascal Chef in a 3* restaurant Paris
Patrick Chef and owner of an hotel and a 2* restaurant in Brittany
Romain Pastry apprentice in a 3*restaurant
Samuel Chef and owner of a gastronomic restaurant in Paris
Jean-Pierre Cooking teacher in a professional cooking school; ex-chef and owner of a
gastronomic restaurant in Paris
Jean-
Sébastien
Chef in a amateur cooking school
Philippe Chef in a amateur cooking school; ex-executive chef in a 3* restaurant in
Paris
William Chef and owner of a 1* restaurant and a bistrot in Paris
Cultural intermediairies
Alban Chef and culinary consultant for haute-cuisine restaurants
Elodie Marketing consultant in haute-cuisine industry
Florence General director of a 3*chef group
Hervé Molecular gastronomy professor and haute-cuisine consultant
Mattieu Restaurant reviewer for a French guide (120 critiques a year)
Virginie Freelance project manager specialized in editing cooking books with haute-
cuisine chefs
Clients
Eric Regular customer, male, 45, marketing manager, Switzerland
Karen Occasional customer, participation to 3* chef cooking master class, female,
35, marketing manager, France
Philippe Occasional customer, PhD student, male, 34, France
Michel Occasional client (ex business client), male, 64, retired, France
Pierre-Yves Regular customer, male, 41, professor, France
Marc Occasional customer, male, 60, accounting manager, France
Table 1. Informants profile
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3. Analysis and interpretation
We highlight the two main characteristics of the chef persona: alchemy and art. Then we
show how chefs draw on these attributes to industrialize their art.
3.1. The chef persona
The chef is an archetype, a fiction deeply embedded in the consumer imagination that
fascinates and attracts the general public:
We are images, images made by the media world. And we have to work with that, you
have to play with that…It gives me joy when people are happy and they thank me….
You know that since ancient times, whether in Greece, in Rome or in China, the chef
has always been venerated. It was true of Apicus. Many texts remark on their positive
standing. From ancient times, such people have been venerated, renowned. (Patrick,
chef)
Patrick underlines the archetype characteristic of the chef: We are images, images made by
the media world. He knows that he has to play this role (you have to play with that). Thus he
tries to fit in this archetype. This is all the more important that the general public is fascinated
by the figure of the chef and expects him to play this role. He underlines that the fascination
for chefs goes back to Antiquity (You know that since ancient times, whether in Greece, in
Rome or in China, the chef has always been venerated). He even goes further than fascination
talking about veneration and thus positioning chefs to the gods’ level. We believe that this
fascination that we have found in many narratives is not just about food and eating but is
embedded in the chef’s persona.
As a persona has to be easily identified by the general public, chefs position themselves in
reference to archetypes or fiction deeply embedded in the consumer imagination (McCracken
1989). In consumer imagination, a chef wears a white costume with his name embroiled and
most of the chefs conform to this tradition. The persona of the chef is anchored in specific
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places and ambiances. In addition to these clothing and environmental attributes that permit
instantaneous identification, the persona of the chef is characterized by an alchemist
knowledge and an artistic sensibility.
The chef as an alchemist
A chef has a specific knowledge (N’Diaye, 1993): he knows how to select the best products,
how to manipulate them, how to cut them, how to cook them, etc. (cf. picture 1). This is
particularly important in the French setting since the French cuisine is highly technical (Piette,
2002). In contrast to other cooking characterized by superposition of ingredients, French
cooking is based on products’ transformation (i.e. fondre, réduire, flamber, fouetter, braiser,
etc.) (Poulain, 2002). Chefs know the techniques to make these transformations:
Cooking is all about patience. Cooking is about simmering. Good cooking must
simmer. It must melt together. It requires all of that… that there is alchemy…It must
cook and recook, it requires all of that, a melting together. It is very tactile. Me, I take
pleasure in cooking when I see the elements dissolve together, when I stir it, when I
feel it. I can feel it through the spoon. When it is not well cooked, for me it is not
adequately simmered. (Marc, customer)
Marc explains how things have to melt, to simmer, and to dissolve. Thus he highlights the
alchemical processes operating in cooking (Poulain, 2002). Similarly to transmutation
principles in the heart of alchemy (Bonardel, 1993), chefs know how to select, manipulate and
transform products (making them blow, melting, changing color and consistence, etc.). These
transmutation practices that have fascinated the general public since the antiquity are still
operant (Joly, 1996) and we argue that chefs appear as last survivors of the alchemist
practices.
In his narrative, Marc also insists on the embodied knowledge of the cook who can feel the
things (I can feel it through the spoon). This embodied dimension is also important in Karen’s
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narrative, an occasional customer who participated to a cooking lesson in Ducasse’s cooking
school:
I am amazed by the precision. I discovered this world of precision. Cooking a fish; it
is 48°C for a certain fish ; it is 52°C for another and it is not 49°C…These guys do not
mess around. You can’t mess around. You can have passion; you can have taste; but
behind that you have to be a super professional and that requires deep competence. I
was amazed when the chef said to us “deep inside it should be cooked to 52°C” and
so I asked him, “what is it you do to tell if it is 52°C?” So, he made this gesture just
bringing the dish beneath his lip to verify the temperature [she mimics the chef’s
gesture] and he just…while with all our equipment we would not have been able to
know. There is thus a super professional side to this…I am telling you, the cusp of
52°C; I still haven’t recovered from that. (Karen, Customer).
Karen is fascinated by the precision and the skills of chefs. Being a chef is not just a question
of passion and requires a set of skills and knowhow. She insists on the fact that it is not
something that you can fabricate (These guys do not mess around. You can’t mess around.)
because it is not just a question of knowing how to use utensils but a question of embodiment
(Joy and Sherry, 2003; Dion, Stiz and Rémy, 2011). The chef knows through his body how to
feel the things. For instance, just by smelling/sensing the dish, the chef can determine its
temperature (So, he made this gesture just bringing the dish beneath his lip to verify the
proper temperature). Cooking is lived and felt through bodily perceptions and cooking
knowhow is grounded in the body. Following recent research in the anthropology of the
senses (Howes 1991; Geurts 2002), our findings show cooking is not only a technique but
also a grammar of feelings and experiencing the world. To paraphrase Lakoff and Johnson
(1999) we could talk about cooking in the flesh. This embodied dimension makes the skills
more unique and rare and thus makes chefs even more fascinating.
In short, the persona of the chef captivates because the chef is considered as a modern
alchemist who masters the transmutation rules. This fascination for the chef is all the more
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important in that the transmutation requires an embodied technical expertise, e.g. a well-tried
hand, that is developed through day-to-day practices, and thus difficult to develop for the
general public.
The chef as an artist
In addition to the technical expertise, the persona of the chef is associated to the art world:
The aromas, the spices, the combinations of smells and tastes. You have a multitude of
combinations…With all of these new ingredients; this has provided me with a host of
additional possible combinations… It is something like a painter’s palette; if you have
five primary colors…great, your palette is large… you can do many things. The larger
your palette of ingredients, the greater the number of combinations and… in addition,
what pleases me the most is juxtaposing different tastes… different flavors when one
travels somewhere…curiosity is to go and find new things, new flavors, new
combinations. (William, chef)
When describing his cooking William refers to art. He assimilates aromas and flavors to
primary colors. As a painter who can create a large set of colors from his palette, he can
combine ingredients to create new flavors (It is something like an artist’s palette; if you have
five primary colors; you can play with the juxtaposition of tastes). This inscription in the
world of art is present in many narratives; cooking is presented as an art and chefs as artists
(Hetzel, 2004; N’Diaye, 1993).
By building on this link with art, branding strategy accentuates the singularity of the artistic
genius (Lipovetsky and Roux, 2003) that dovetail with marketing quest for differentiation
(Heilbrunn 1999). The artist is capable of creating new things; one who moves towards the
unknown in the quest for novelty; and one who makes it possible to transgress prevailing
aesthetic norms and to regenerate them:
Not everyone is an artist; they add some truffles, some lobster and stuff just any which
way. But all that is nothing but window dressing. If you give Picasso a lump of
charcoal, he will make you a masterpiece. If someone has a style, that is a real artist.
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And this is something that people seek out. For example Gagnaire makes a dish of
mackerel and shellfish. This was a dish that I simply did not understand at first. But it
is like Messiaen. In the beginning you cannot hear it. Your brain has to learn how to
understand it. You have to learn how to recognize the forms. The brain is a machine
that learns to recognize forms… The artist creates these forms. And that is a chef, he
can operate as an artist and create new forms. (Hervé, consultant)
For Hervé, fine cooking is not a matter of expensive ingredients such as truffles or lobster but
of art and creation. He compares Pierre Gagnaire (a three Michelin stars chef) to Picasso and
stresses his ability to invent new forms: The artist, he creates new forms. The cook is the
same. Like the artist he can create new forms, invent new things. Behind these narratives, we
detect the romantic myth of the artist developed in the 19th century, according to which the
artist can produce original and singular creations because of his or her artistic genius
(Heilbrunn 1999; Heinich 2004). Since the age of Romanticism, the excellence of the artist is
necessarily defined as something singular and unique (Becker 1982; Heinich 2004). Thus the
creative chef is not an anonymous persona (i.e. a chef) but rather a singular persona (e.g. chef
Robuchon or chef Ducasse).
In line with the romantic vision of the artist, the master chef has to go through a succession of
experiences to become a creative chef (Bradshaw, Mc Donagh and Marshall, 2006). Many of
them have lived time in the “wilderness” or extra-ordinary experiences that make them
uncommon and make their cuisine unique:
It is important that cuisine reflects a part of your experience. You will find in my
cooking flavors that truly come from the four corners of the earth, but because they
reflect my experience; they correspond with my travels. I’ve spend years on the road
to discover all that; thus, it is true that I have hoped that all that would seep into my
cooking; but I would never have discovered all that on the other side of the world if I
didn’t have any desire to work with it, no desire to work with it. I’m something like
Saint Thomas, I believe what I see and …in products, that’s it. I need to experience
them before I can work with them; that’s it really. And it is for this reason that I have
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gone lobster fishing in Brittany. It is for this that I have gone salmon fishing in
Canada; it is for this. It is because I need to be impregnated with all of this so that
afterwards, I hope I can work with these things as honestly as possible. There you
have it. (Samuel, chef)
By emphasizing his travels around the world, Samuel seeks to singularize himself and his
cuisine in the mean time. Because he has spent so many years traveling around the world by
bus, by bike, hitchhiking or riding donkey, he is different from other chefs and thus has a
unique cuisine. As he says: It is important that your cooking reflects your past experiences. It
is interesting to notice that his trips around the world are presented extensively on his
restaurant’s website and menu1
Being assimilated to an artist, the chef has the power to create singular dishes and thus his
signature gains power (de Duve, 1998). The artist has the power to turn any object into an
artwork by the force of his name, sanctioned by his recognition as an artist, which in turn, is
infused by belief in his authenticity (Becker 1982; Heilbrunn 1999). Thus, any object can be
considered a work of art on condition that it results from the action of an artist; an artist who
has been recognized as such by society, generally via processes of framing and performing of
actions in conformity with generalized notions of artistic behavior. Similarly for haute-cuisine
dishes to attain the status of artworks, it is crucial their creator be recognized as an artist
(Dion et Arnould, 2011). These dishes can become so famous that they are called signature
dish and become the chef’s heritage (Poulain, 2002). For instance, Robuchon's signature
dishes such as his "Pommes Purée Truffe" and his “La Caille au Foie Gras” are served in the
22 Robuchon’s restaurants and used as proof of chef singularity and expertise2
In sum, two dimensions characterize the chef persona: alchemical expertise and artistic
sensibility. The chef is considered as a modern alchemist who masters the transmutation rules,
1 http://www.leversance.fr/#; accessed 10-06-2010
2 www.mgmgrand.com/restaurants/atelier-joel-robuchon-french-restaurant.aspx; accessed 26-05-2010.
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and as an artist who creates culinary artworks. We argue that these two chef persona attributes
are central to understand the haute-cuisine industrialization process.
3.2. Managing the chef persona
In order to industrialize their offer (i.e. opening several restaurants carrying their name),
master chefs operate a disconnection between creation and execution and differentiate the
master chef and the executive chef. The master chef is in charge of the creation and manages
a team of executive cooks:
All these chefs who do so many things…there is nevertheless a whole team behind
them who work hard and who are also very good at what they do. No one ever talks
about all that. We always talk about the celebrity chefs…We see them as celebrities
but we should not lose sight of the fact that there is a whole team behind them…teams
who master their craft and who make it possible for the chefs to become stars. That I
think we have a tendency to forget.
Frederic emphasizes the dichotomy between the master chef and the executive team. The
master chef is a star; he is the one whom people are talking about. He stresses that these
master chefs cannot exist without their executive teams under their supervision: there is a
whole team behind them…teams who master their craft and who make it possible for the chefs
to become stars.. These executive teams whom nobody talks about work very hard and are
excellent technicians (there is nevertheless a whole team behind them who work hard and
who are also very good at what they do. No one ever talks about all that). Cooking is thus
considered as a technical skill that can be achieved by any well-trained cook. Executive chefs
are thus all the more important as master chefs even if they do not get public or media
attention (Ottenbacher and Harrington, 2007).
By disconnecting creation and execution, chefs take the risk of breaking the link between the
master chef and the executive team. The entire executive team needs to be in a perfect match
14
with the master chef artistic project. Our narratives show executive teams’ devotion and
submissiveness to the master chef:
To have seen Ducasse’s lieutenants, what most impressed me was how they spoke
about Ducasse.. It was, “No, but the chef would never have accepted that it was done
like that. The chef would never have accepted that.” They were speaking of Alain
Ducasse but really you had the impression that he was there somewhere although he
was absolutely not there...and for all the chefs it was like that. I took two classes with
two different chefs. They spoke really as if as if their chef was thinking. “But no, the
chef would not accept that you add that there now.” One had the impression that you
had their training, but the point of reference was the chef. “The chef would never
have accepted that a tepid dish could be eaten.” So there you go you had the
impression that there were house rules, and if they had their posts their, these
lieutenants, it was because they respected these rules. (Karen, Customer)
Karen underlines how often chefs refer to Ducasse as if he were their mental overlord. They
kept saying « the chef would never accept that ; the chef would never accept that ». It looks
like he has set-up very strict rules and high standards that they have to follow even if they
were not performing in their restaurants but just for cooking classes. Karen also notices that if
they are executive chef in a Ducasse’s restaurant it is because they agree to conform to this
hierarchy: (if they were there it is because they obeyed these rules). Thus this disconnection
between creation and execution rests on the definition of strict rules and a charismatic
manager. They follow their boss’ thoughts not because they have to but because they admire
him (Waeraas 2007) and are committed (House and Howel, 1992). Philippe goes even further
talking about a total devotion to his master chef:
The chefs who succeed and who are outside of the kitchen; there aren’t billions of
them and they are well known. These are people who have behind them networks,
teams who are there body and soul for them. Quite simply these are people who have
an aura, who had a certain facility with cooking and who above all who had a talent
and who were able, like Mr. Roth, to qualify their teams…people who breath like
them, people who breath for them, and who breath like them…and who work like the
chef whether he is there or not and thus you are in his skin and do no longer think of
15
speaking up. This restaurant is called Espadon like the one at the Ritz but it is Mr.
Roth’s restaurant. (Philippe, chef)
Philippe describes the Ritz executive team entirely dedicated to his master chef (teams who
are there body and soul for them; people who breath like them, people who breath for them).
This dedication even goes to an extreme mimesis (people who breath like them). This
mimesis is so strong that one can feel in the chef’s skin. Thus, it is not the cooking techniques
that are embodied but also the chef himself. The devotion is stronger than an emotional
attachment to a charismatic leader described in the leadership literature (House and Howel,
1992). It is a kind of incarnation into the chef.
In summary, master chef disconnect creation and execution: they are in charge of the creative
process and they transfer the execution to the executive team. This process relies on executive
teams’ devotion to the master chef. Being entirely dedicated to the master chef they are
perfectly in line with the artistic direction of the master chef and thus maintain the artistic
unity. Thus, master chefs can open several restaurants carrying their name. However, many
chefs such as Alain Passard or Michel Bras reject this model; they are dedicated to their art
and refuse the disconnection between art and execution.
4. Discussion
In this analysis, we investigated the persona of the chef and show that persona is a central
element to permit retail expansion. We show how several master chefs have disconnected
creation and execution and thus split the persona of the chef into a master chef persona
anchored in art and an executive chef persona embedded in alchemic techniques. In addition
to traditional characteristics associated to the executive chef’s persona, elements drawn from
the art world are assembled to create a persona around the creative chef. This strategy works
to render tangible the master chef’s singularity upon which a distinctive positioning depends
and to allow him to open several restaurants carrying his name.
16
This study shows that persona is not only a communication device (Fisher 1984; McCracken
1989; Stern 1991, 1993, 1994); it that it can also be the central element of a retailing strategy.
The business model of master chefs is based on the disjunction between creation and
execution. The master chef is in charge of the creation and transfers the execution to several
anonymous executive chefs. Executive chefs under his supervision have a complete technical
background and can thus execute creations with perfection. By delegating the execution, he
can supervise several workshops at the same time and thus open several restaurants carrying
his name. This dichotomy between the creative master chef and the executive chefs is similar
to the artistic workshop in the Renaissance. For instance, famous renaissance Italian artists
such as Michel Angelo or Leonardo da Vinci were not only great artists but also managers of
a team of sculptors and painters working under their supervision. This model relies on
executive team devotion to the charismatic leader. This devotion is central because it leads
executive chefs to surpass themselves and to fit into the master chef visions (Wieseke, et al.,
2009).
Contrary to previous research (McCracken 1989; Herskovitz and Crystal 2010) that define
persona as a monolithic narrative construction, this research demonstrates that the persona is a
narrative construction that can be fragmented and dispatched into several persons. Our
research shows that the chef persona is characterized by two elements: (1) alchemical
expertise (i.e. the chef is a modern alchemist who masters the transmutation rules) and (2)
artistic genius (i.e. the chef is an artist who can create culinary artworks). We demonstrate
that these two dimensions can be dispatched into several people, i.e. the master chef and the
executive teams. They are then reassembled into a global narrative construction. This
fragmentation is essential to allow for the expansion of retail business based on a persona
because it makes the master chef omnipotent and omniscient. Since he is able to act
simultaneously on separate elements, he can act without being there. Managing persona, it is
17
important to understand how to fragment and gather the different persona facets and integrate
them into a global construction narrative.
Restaurant managers have to stage master chef persona and executive chef persona. In order
to highlight the technical expertise of executive chefs, it is important to emphasize their
cooking background: the famous restaurants where they have worked and the famous chefs
who trained them. Another way of staging the persona of executive chefs is to give the clients
the opportunity to watch them cooking. Thus they can appreciate chefs’ technical expertise
and observe the alchemical process going on. This is why more and more restaurants are
designing open kitchens. In L’Atelier Robuchon kitchens have even somehow disappeared
because chefs are cooking behind the counter and make an exhibition of themselves, of their
artistry. We have shown that in addition to being a technical expert, master chefs are
considered as artists. Thus restaurant underline the master chef artistic sense, his inspirations,
his sensibility, his creativity, his masterpieces (signature dish), etc.
5. Avenues for future research
Relying on the charisma of certain personalities for commercial success raises research
questions about the appropriate management of, and managerial role for those key players
(Michel 2001; Lepsinger and Yukl 2004). Because of their iconic qualities, the departure of
these specific human assets can deprive a company of a charismatic resource that, as our
discussion shows, is not merely a question of functional competencies. Thus, future research
can assess how companies can deal with key persona departure. Future research could also
further investigate the management style in each retail model. Because the chef manager
model relies on executive team devotion, one can ask how master chefs create executive and
sustain this devotion (Buch, 2002; Wieseke et al. 2009). Moreover, one can use these settings
to interrogate the nature of business success. Is the volume and turnover of Ducasse the
18
standard one should consider? What special challenges face firms opting for one or the other
charisma management model in cuisine or other retail environments passed on charisma?
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