Measuring up to Erwan Heussaff

He sips his double espresso like nothing happened.  Just five minutes before we sat at the coffee shop, a teenage girl had asked to take a photo with him.  How she recognizes him, we can’t be too sure.  He has deliberately avoided acting offers and modeling stints, and yet he can’t help but draw sneaking stares from passersby as he walked out of the 5cm store en route to the café — a mere 20-second stroll. Never mind that his girlfriend is the reigning showbiz star.  Never mind that his sister is a quintuple threat in acting, singing, modeling, fashion designing and makeup artistry. (Editor’s note: Erwan is the boyfriend of Anne Curtis and the brother of Solenn Heussaff.)  

Erwan Heussaff just wants to be the everyday young professional working as business development manager at Newrest SOS. 

 Try as he might, this Franco-Filipino will not succeed in remaining anonymous, or even inconspicuous.  Whether he likes it or not, his life has become an open book. For one thing, in his food blog www.thefatkidinside.com, he unabashedly admits to weighing in at 240 pounds at his heaviest, and his culinary journey to health via recipes with cooking videos as addendum. Wild Love by Gossling plays in the opening of each video, with a 30-second montage of Erwan running, eating, cycling, barbecuing, dancing, and then pensively standing amid the city street lights of Tokyo. They are intimate glimpses into his life, perhaps to serve as life-affirming inspirations, but never the braggadocio behavior that commonly infests the blogosphere. 

 That Saturday afternoon, Erwan opens up and recalls embarrassing moments, including falling into a puddle in Paris, dressing like a drug dealer, and being strip-searched at the airport.  He also recounts more brazen moments, like walking around town in spandex and getting into a little squabble over caviar with Chef Bobby Chinn. 

 PhilippiNE STAR: What did you have for breakfast today?

 Erwan Heussaff: I had scrambled eggs with homemade almond bread, chopped spring onions drizzled with sesame oil and soy sauce.

 Do you cook every meal?

 Every meal, including my snacks.  I’ll make my own Nutella butter.  I’ve read so many cookbooks that I understand flavor profiles.  I will try something that I think tastes amazing that some people will find weird.  For example, I like eating Thai curry with pasta.

Shooting for Make It Makati Food Crawl: “I’ve always been uncomfortable being in the limelight.”

 Sounds like a winner to me.  What would be your signature dish?

 When I was in Vietnam, I used to eat a lot of banh mi.  I do a pulled pork shoulder variation of it with caramelized onions, a bunch of coriander and Laughing Cow cheese.  It works.

 You’ve lived in Paris.  Were you classically trained?

 No.  But in the summer, I’ve always worked odd jobs in hotels while I was still in school.  I always worked the graveyard shift, from 12 midnight to 6 a.m. before school and during those times, chefs were really bored and they would just teach me a few things, how to cook, how to chop, and then we would just steal food from the kitchen. (Chuckles)

 How are your knife skills?

 They’re not as pristine as I would like them to be, but I’m pretty fast.  I have an amazing set of 12 Japanese knives that I sharpen every day.  It’s kinda freaky when someone comes home seeing me doing that. 

 What would be your guilty pleasures?  

Let’s start with food.

 Pancakes, noodles, waffles and pork belly. 

Not all in one meal, I hope. 

 Any other shameful indulgences?

 Really bad horror movies from the 1950s, like The Blob.  And more recently, the stupid slasher flicks. 

 Who are your favorite chefs?

 I’ve always liked Jamie Oliver.  Also David Chang, and Thomas Keller.  I hate Gordon Ramsey and Bobby Chinn.  I have bad blood with Bobby Chinn.  When I was working in Hanoi at Le Sofitel Metropole and I was managing one of their restaurants, his restaurant was next door.  He came in to our restaurant for the Sunday brunch buffet, tasted some caviar and said that it was not Beluga.  I knew who he was, and I told him frankly that caviar means fish eggs, it doesn’t necessarily mean Beluga. And he said, “Well, I’m paying a hundred bucks, so I expect Beluga.” I mean, 10 grams of that would cost 250 dollars. He gave me a lot of flack for it, and that made me mad!  But when you work in a hotel, you just have to smile it off.  Then I went into the kitchen and started cursing my head off!

 Tell us something about yourself that not many people know.

 I actually eat a lot. People think that I don’t eat because I have a health thing, but I eat loads and loads.  I’ve set a couple of rules and guidelines, and I know how to follow them.  You’ll see me on a Sunday morning eating stacks of pancakes, waffles, and bacon, and I really don’t care because I know how to manage it after. 

 Your blog is centered on the proverbial weight-loss success story.  Besides a change in diet, has there been a change in your style? 

 I’ve always dressed up before, even when I was fat at 240 pounds.  I spent a lot of money on clothes because I thought it would cover up my body.  The problem was that as I got bigger, every couple of months, I would have to buy a whole new wardrobe because they wouldn’t fit me anymore.  As I started losing and maintaining my weight, I started sticking to the classics. 

Do you think that the epiphany of losing weight stemmed from your sartorial woes?

Definitely.  When you look through a catalogue or a magazine, the models you see aren’t exactly big.  You look at the clothes, and it looks fantastic on them, but when I tried them on, it looked absolutely terrible on me. (Laughs)  I’ve always been in love with suits.  If I could, I would wear a suit every day for the rest of my life.

 I’m very comfortable having breakfast in a suit.  If people find that weird, that’s cool.  You’ll also find me wearing a lot of cardigans, they’re so practical.  I basically live in spandex when I’m working out, and you might even catch me in Power Plant walking around in them. 

 What would be emblematic of Erwan, style-wise?

 A dark blue suit.  Not enough people wear that color.  I don’t like black tuxedos.  I am the ambassador of moccasins without socks. 

 What is your most overused clothing item?

 I’ve had these cardigans that I’ve worn for the last six years. I have a set of black, blue, brown, bordeaux, mustard and green cardigans all from the same brand, and they fit me perfectly. 

 What would you be never be caught dead wearing?

 Studs.  I just don’t get it.  When I was 13, I thought wallet chains were cool, and I realized that I was wrong. 

 You’re the new brand ambassador for 5cm.  How does 5cm appeal to your sensibilities?

 I like that they have some really cool timeless pieces in neutral colors, a lot of blacks, camouflage green, grays, which is very me because I don’t like too much of the bright colors.  But at the same time they have little hints of modernity and twists, like you have a simple black shirt and the collar will have a slight detail, which makes it a little different, and I like that because it’s not overtly in-your-face trendy.  It’s something that can go through different seasons and at the same time looks relevant. 

 You seem to travel a lot.  Where are your favorite places to go?

 Hungary and everywhere in France — north, south, east or west.  I have a running competition with my older sister (Vanessa) on who has traveled the most countries.  She’s at 45, I’m at 42. Every year, I try to go to three new countries.

 What are your travel clothing essentials?

 I always travel in black, because you are going to get dirty, maybe spill something on yourself.  I look like a drug dealer when I travel.  I’m always in black, and I wear gold chains.  I’ve gotten strip-searched twice. The first time happened when I arrived in JFK, and they strip-searched me down to my boxers. 

 Any more embarrassing moments you’d like to share on the record?

 There are so many.  I’m such a klutz.  I fell into a puddle on my way to school in Paris.  All my friends saw me.  I ran back home to change and acted like nothing happened.

 You’re surrounded by a lot of high-profile people, and yet you keep it very low key.  Why is that? 

 People are very quick to place you and put you in an industry you’re not necessarily in.  Like, a lot of people don’t know I have a normal job.  Most people think I’m a professional food blogger, or they think I’m a TV personality, or they think I’m a starting actor just by association.  I would rather keep a low profile.  I’ve always been very uncomfortable being in the limelight, like getting my photo taken for a shoot.  That probably comes from a deep-down fat kid insecurity that will always remain.

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