Paul “Le Chef”
Paul Peter Kopij - The Inventor Chef
Paul has tasted the savor of many delicious menus from all around the world. He then played with hundreds of flavors with the intention of recreating a personal version of them. Currently, he proofs his culinary skills at the La Mandragora restaurant in Bucharest, near Piața Romană.
His full name is Peter Paul Kopij. He is the German chef who creates miracles in the kitchen of La Mandragora, a restaurant located in Stefan Luchian’s memorial house. His passion for taste and flavors was obvious since childhood, as the young Paul did nothing else but playing football and thinking about food.
As he grew up, Paul applied for a gastronomy school in his hometown, Hamburg. Soon after graduation, his bold culinary ideas were appreciated by clients of a local restaurant. In the following years, his job took him all around the world: from Spain to England, Switzerland and later in the United Arab Emirates. At Abu Dhabi, in the kitchen of world’s most expensive hotel, “Emirates Palace”, Paul becomes a master in the culinary art.
In 2006, he has to choose between being the no 1 chef in one of the „Emirates Palace” restaurants, or coming to Romania to open a restaurant that would suit his personal taste. Paul went for the second option.
La Mandragora Menu is Paul’s way of delighting his clients with his own favorite dishes, dishes that he personally cooks with the same amount of passion that he invested in creating them. The fact that there’s no salt and pepper on the tables should not make you wonder. This is a sign of Paul’s desire to achieve perfection in everything that has to do with the notion of “taste”. The exact same concern can be seen in Paul’s constant determination to use only fresh ingredients, as he goes to the market each and every morning. An inventor chef who worked on more than one continent, Paul says he is mad about Romanian vegetables, which, according to him, are full of taste and color. He is also a fan of chili peppers and chocolate and is able to do ice cream out of every existent ingredient.
Peter Paul Kopij waits for you every evening at La Mandragora where he prepares for you potato crème with bacon, spinach tartar, beef carpaccio with pine buds, and Catalan cream with basil ice cream and many other culinary wonders that you wouldn’t find in any other restaurant in Bucharest or in the whole world.
