Lunch with Elise Pioch Balzac

As Pioch Balzac tells it, food was a wonderful obsession for her family in France. “My childhood is filled with memories of whole weekends that revolved around the dinner table. We would wake up, go to the market and prepare the day’s meal based on what was in season – I want Loulou to understand the same and know how pleasurable food can be.” She encourages her daughter to collect freshly laid eggs (“We’ve had a few accidents,”) and to pick asparagus and herbs from the bottom of the garden. “Loulou is not a hectic child, she’s been surrounded by nature from birth and I believe the trees, the space, the animals have all had an impact on her sense of being.” 

It’s then, right on cue, that baby Loulou appears, pointing to a white chicken, “Poulet, poulet!” she says as her mother scoops her up into her arms. Pioch Balzac says her foray into motherhood has been an ongoing journey of discovery. “From the very beginning, I trusted my instincts. I tried not to read the books but rather follow my gut feeling – we really believe that if you welcome things as they happen, then life is so much easier, happy and uncomplicated.” 

When it comes to striking a work-life balance, Pioch Balzac is pragmatic: “My office is in the back garden so I can very quickly go from work to the kitchen if I want to, and I never feel frustrated to leave one for the other. When Loulou naps, I achieve the most and I’m lucky to have a husband as involved as he is, Pablo is incredibly hands on and supportive.”

Indeed, Pioch Balzac’s ideas have extended not just to candles but also honey, a delightful children’s book and more recently a small line of divine mohair blankets produced by the same small atelier in the south of France that weaves for Hermès and Sonia Rykiel. Pioch Balzac says, “I wanted the blankets to shake up the traditional notion of mohair – everybody has them in cream and black, I wanted brights.”

Much like her personality, Pioch Balzac’s style is upbeat and elegant. “I’m not actually trying to have a style, but rather the way I dress is very spontaneous – perhaps, too, it has something to do with my upbringing, I was the middle daughter surrounded by brothers and so there is androgyny in my look. I’m not a sexy feminine person,” she explains. "I still love beautiful clothes, but it's like anything, you adapt to suit your life – and this is something I'm so very passionate about.” 

Read below for Pioch Balzac's favourite lunchtime recipe: a delicious savoury onion tart and fragrant country salad that combines black rice and freshly picked garden herbs.