The Emergence of an Influential Practice: Food for Thought

How do influential practices initially emerge? Bourdieu’s work offers an approach to answering this question and connecting local micro and field-level macro phenomena. We empirically build on this framework to analyse how the practice of using vegetables as gastronomic ingredients emerged in the field of haute cuisine at three-star chef Alain Passard’s Arpège restaurant. Based on multilevel and longitudinal data, we describe the practice and account for its emergence based on Passard’s habitus and his position in the field of haute cuisine. Our research contributes to the practice-based literature by highlighting the complicity between the agent and the field, and it contributes to institutional theory-based studies by accounting for the genesis of a new influential practice initiated by an individual insider.