Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Cannes 2011: Lobster � la Electrolux vacuum cleaner, please

The household A-lister's hospitality pavilion was given the thumbs up by De Niro, but Jude Law failed to hoover everything up

Dismiss Pitt. Ignore Von Trier. The name on everyone's lips at Cannes this year belongs to a vacuum manufacturer. The Electrolux Agora Pavilion is 2011's most high-profile newcomer: a 1,200 sq ft venue erected next to the Palais, host to the opening and closing ceremonies.

Part of an initiative to make the brand synonymous with a superstar lifestyle, the pavilion is also a showroom for lots of whizzy new kit. On a tour of the kitchen, I'm shown a cooker the size of the average London flat, a USB-controlled fridge and a touchscreen steam oven.

Lunch, generally the preserve of special guests and jury members (20ft away, Jean-Paul Belmondo is enjoying the cod), is predictably fantastic, the puddings in particular. Head chef Pascal Feraud sits down with me over coffee, his first break since watching Mel Gibson in The Beaver the previous evening ("It was very good but a little bit sad"). His team produced the opening night bash, which featured 350 lobsters, 80kg of veal, 700 courgette flowers and 700 bottles of wine. At the weekend, there was a cook-off between French and Russian teams, battling for an opportunity to make lunch for the competition jury. The French clinched it, with a menu inspired by jury president Robert De Niro's Sicilian roots.

"Mr De Niro was very pleased with the lunch," I am told by an Electrolux spokesman. "And [jury member] Jude Law gave it eight out of 10." Why did he knock off two? "I don't know. The chef was slightly disappointed. He had hoped for full marks." Catherine Shoard


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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/may/18/electrolux-agora-pavilion-cannes

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