Chef Marc Felix

Chef Marc Felix

"If I know what's important to you right now, at this moment,
then I know exactly what you'd like to eat"

For Chef Marc Felix the ultimate eating experience doesn't begin with a recipe.
It doesn't begin with ingredients. It begins with a conversation...

"Who are you? - How are you feeling today?"

The answers to questions like these are as important to him as what kind of foods you like.

"If I know what's important to you right now, at this moment" he explains,
"then I know exactly what you'd like to eat."

Described by his wife Lisa as a "food psychologist" Marc thrives on the challenge of tailoring his dishes to suit the setting, season, time, and most importantly, the mood of the person he's cooking for. At the restaurant the couple opened in 1995 in Taos, New Mexico, many customers came to trust their chef so completely that they simply stopped ordering off the menu, opting instead to leave the fate of their meal up to Marc's wild whims and instincts. Aptly named "La Folie" (the madness), the restaurant became very popular, as much for the food, as well as Marc's penchant for experimentation and attention to detail.

After four years at La Folie (an enterprise which, by that time, had expanded to include a cafe, a tapas bar, and a bed and breakfast), The Plaza Hotel lured Marc to New York to revitalize the menu for their legendary Oak Room. After two successful years in the Oak Room, The Plaza asked Marc to bring his talents to the main kitchen as Executive Banquet Chef. Overseeing everything from grand weddings to intimate events, he wielded the same keen ability to understand people's palettes, as well as a versatility in the kitchen, to develop menus for everything from a traditional wedding feast to a celebrity-studded Vegan party, from musically-themed dishes for a dance company benefit, to hearty fare for a Superbowl party.

Chef Marc Felix - Photo by Katherine Bish

Marc attributes his unique view of food and dining to his childhood

Born in Aix-les-Bains in the Savoie region of France, he grew up on a farm where notions of eating well were instilled in him early on. He began apprenticing in the kitchen of a local restaurant at the age of fourteen and two years later entered the Culinary School of Challes-Les-Eaux in the Rhone-Alps region, where he finished first in his class. This led to several positions at Michelin-rated restaurants around France until twenty-three, he heeded the advice of his friend and mentor, Chef Jean-Emile Salomon, who suggested that his cooking style might be too unrestrained and atypical for France. Marc made the move to America where Chef Salomon's son Xavier started him on the road to becoming a hotel chef.

Marc Felix began at the Ritz Carlton in Los Angeles and continued on to the Ritz Carltons in Aspen, Co, and Cancun, Mexico, followed by El Conquistador in Puerto Rico. Marc's extensive travels during this time broadened the budding chef's exposure to different cuisines and local ingredients, experiences that helped him develop his eclectic sensibility.

He has made several appearances on Nickelodeon's U-Pick live, ABC' s Morning Show, The Food Network's Extreme Cuisine, and the Discovery Channel. His recipes have been highlighted in Local Flavor Magazine, The Santa Fean, Food Art Magazine, and The New York Times. He has also received immense local praise with reviews in Sauce Magazine , River Front Times, St. Louis Post Dispatch and Where magazine.

Marc Felix has worked on different projects around the world not only as a great chef but also as a multifaceted artist. He collaborated with two of his friends, Mimi Oka and Dough Fitch, (www.orph.com) on a number of food-art projects in New York, France, and Tokyo. He had the pleasure of serving as chef consultant for the actress Jill Clayburgh, the star of the Broadway show Barefoot in the Park.

Marc is now based in Saint Louis where he enjoyed phenomenal success as the Executive Chef of the extremely popular Red Moon restaurant, being named one of the top 21 new Asian Restaurants in the US by Food and Wine Magazine. Be on the look out for Marc’s new vegan hors d'oeuvres and burgers, his upcoming family cook book and cooking show.

St. Louis Publication
Where Magazine