How to translate 'cuisine artisanale' ?

[NormanH]

I am helping one of my favourite restaurants with some publicity in English.

The problem is to translate 'Cuisine artisanale' a well understood concept here which he even has letter painted on the window.

It isn't quite gastronomic but it is well-prepared by the chef himself as opposed to an assembly of bought-in ready prepared ingredients.

'Home cooking' would be too homely.

He doesn't want to be called a Master Chef as that has specific connotations in France

'Craftsman' as used for several other areas doesn't seem quite right for a chef..

'Freshly-prepared' seems too anodyne..

'Artistry' seems pretentious..

but it is all those things.

It is so long since I ate out in the UK that I no longer have the vocabulary at my fingertips..

[Chancer]

Norman, I sympathise as I have exactly the same problem having started to do a translation for the new owners of my local brasserie, very quickly I realised what a hard job it was with the result that i have put it to one side until now.

I hope you dont mind if I hijack your thread with my own questions, and there are many, after we have resolved your problem.

Being a Franglais speaker I would be tempted to leave it exactly as it is, I am sure people will get the message and it adds a certain french touch.

A family firm that I used to work with on several projects back in the UK, proudly called themselves Artisan woodworkers and blacksmiths, i am not ashamed to admit that i had to look the word up and it indeed was really fitting of them.

[cooperlola]

Out of academic interest alone, I googled Craftsman Cookery (that being the closest I ever come to finding an alternative word for Artisan) and nothing sensible came up.  However, Norman, Artisan Cookery yielded several results, including cookery books and cookery schools.  I'm certainly no chef, but I think if you left it alone it might just work!  But with luck, Gordon Ramsay will be along shortly.

[britgirl]

Could it be desribed as 'Traditionally prepared' which would leave him room to adjust the menu according to the seasons.

[Gardengirl]

I like 'artisan cuisine' and 'traditionally prepared', or maybe 'traditional artisan cuisine'.

[NormanH]

Lots of good ideas thanks...

On reflection I may not translate the phrase at all, but find an equivalent as if I was writing the thing from scratch.

I have done that before in similar circumstances when stuck.

The original text can imprison you and you end up writing something very mechanical just to be faithful to the letter of the original, when a free version might be truer to the spirit.

[idun]

[:D]You just beat me to it Britgirl, traditional cooking or cuisine or as britgirl said, traditionally prepared and you could add maybe local dishes to that.

[LEO]

The words "home

cooking " may not be tomorrows buzzwords however, those

age old words still get the message across!

They could 

also convey hidden messages ;

For

example;

 Reasonable prices .

I am not going to be

ripped off.

The staff may be friendly

The staff won,t be

standoffish (if that is a real word)

I would still use those

words but , they must be in italics to retain their

charm!

[idun]

I wonder if that translates to humans as I write in 'italics', so does that help me keep my 'charm'?[Www]

[5-element]

"creatively prepared from scratch on the premises" - yes, I do see the problem, Norman and Chancer. [:'(]

[woolybanana]

Home made kitchen?[:P]

[Pickles]

Given the current story about the botulism poisoning allegedly due to eating tapenade "fabrication artisanale", the term in French may soon rapidly become prejorative ...

Regards

Pickles

[Hoddy]

A pub near me in the UK has a sign which says

"We don't have a microwave -

We do have a chef"

Perhaps something along those lines would do it ?

Hddy

[pachapapa]

[quote user="Hoddy"]A pub near me in the UK has a sign which says "We don't have a microwave - We do have a chef" Perhaps something along those lines would do it ? Hddy[/quote]

Ah yes!

A cook with a "toque"[:)]

rather than a Maître Cuisinier!

http://www.maitrescuisiniersdefrance.com/index2.php

[cooperlola]

[quote user="NormanH"]
The original text can imprison you and you end up writing something very mechanical just to be faithful to the letter of the original, when a free version might be truer to the spirit.


[/quote]I agree.

Which loosely translated means: "That must be right."

[debbie]

artistically crafted

[NormanH]

[quote user="woolybanana"]Home made kitchen?[:P][/quote]

[:P]

[mint]

[quote user="debbie"]artistically crafted[/quote]

is that the final take on this then, homemade kitchen artistically crafted?

[Judith]

[quote user="NormanH"]

The original text can imprison you and you end up writing something very mechanical just to be faithful to the letter of the original, when a free version might be truer to the spirit.

[/quote]

Very true,  I find I sometimes have to completely rephrase a sentence to get the meaning as it would be said in English over correctly.

Re the phrase cuisine artisanale - artisan is used as a noun rather than an adjective in English, so he could be an artisan, but would not necessarily be a cooking craftsman as that isn't an English phrasing.

I do rather like the  - we have a chef approach - does say it all really!

I'd be interested in how you do translate it eventually after all the good advice on here!

[Chancer]

What does Google translate give you?

Well if its good enough for all the others [:P]

[Chancer]

What does Google translate give you?

Well if its good enough for all the others [:P]

[NormanH]

So far the working version of this bit  ( of a much longer whole) looks like this:

Original French:

"Si vous aimez la

cuisine artisanale, créative et colorée « xxx sont faites pour

vous"

my adaptation

"If you enjoy

home-made dishes, imaginatively prepared from fresh ingredients, and

artistically presented by a craftsman cook then  xxxx"

is just what you are looking for."

I'm not that convinced by the 'craftsman cook' I have to admit, but I feel that 'a skillful chef' or  'with exemplary cooking skills 'lack a bit of the punch that comes with the alliteration.

Artistically could be colourfully to be closer to the original.

[Gardengirl]

Sounds very good, Norman. It would draw me! Is this to be the venue for the next LF forum get-together?  [:D]

[The Riff-Raff Element]

[quote user="NormanH"]So far the working version of this bit  ( of a much longer whole) looks like this:

Original French:

"Si vous aimez la

cuisine artisanale, créative et colorée « xxx sont faites pour

vous"

my adaptation

"If you enjoy

home-made dishes, imaginatively prepared from fresh ingredients, and

artistically presented by a craftsman cook then  xxxx"

is just what you are looking for."

I'm not that convinced by the 'craftsman cook' I have to admit, but I feel that 'a skillful chef' or  'with exemplary cooking skills 'lack a bit of the punch that comes with the alliteration.

Artistically could be colourfully to be closer to the original.

[/quote]

That's pretty good! If you're not keen on "craftsman cook" how about something along the lines of "tradition-minded chef"? Artisanale always brings up "tradition" in my mind.

[Gardener]

Home made does conjure up good images but doesn't equate in my mind to cuisine artisanale. It is a difficult one. Would fine dining be too far to the other end of the scale? Or could cuisine artisanale be left as it is in French, as I think even the most limited French speaker would have an idea of what it meant.