Guy Savoy, the storied three-Michelin-starred chef with eponymous palaces of gastronomy in both Paris and Las Vegas, will be cooking with his friend Georges Perrier at Le Bec-Fin on Sunday and Monday.

The event is already sold out, and the $200-a-plate dinners will include a few of Savoy's favorite ingredients, including, of course, truffles and foie gras. We wondered if he always eats that way. He replied to our questions by e-mail.

Q: You are most associated with elegant, gourmet French cuisine. But you can't eat that way all the time. What's your favorite simple meal?

A: Cuisine is so varied, both in terms of the diversity of dishes as well as atmospheres. This can mean a rib of beef with friends, a romantic meal at a fellow chef's restaurant or a mountain fondue after an afternoon skiing.

Q: What is your idea of comfort food?

A: For me, it's authentic cuisine in a harmonious setting with people that you like.

In other words, cuisine made from authentic products, from small-scale producers who love their work and achieve a wonderful synthesis between traditional methods and current techniques.

For me, a harmonious setting is a place where everything is designed to offer guests a moment of total and perfect happiness. As for the people that you like: That's up to you to decide.

Q: What is your strongest food memory from your childhood?

A: The extraordinary smells coming from the kitchen when I came home from school, making me very hungry even before seeing the food in front of me.

Q: Was there one turning point in your life when you knew you had to become a chef?

A: Cookery is the art of lifting foodstuffs from the merely edible to the realm of pleasure, in a matter of moments. This revelation came to me at the age of 5 or 6 when one day my mother, who always took great care to keep the big tin of homemade biscuits well stocked, let me make some langue de chat biscuits.

Imitating her, I shaped the little rolls of mixture, laid them on the baking tray, then watched as they suddenly spread themselves, turning golden around the edges. A few minutes after being removed from the oven, the biscuits were crisp, crunchy, tasting of butter. That memory has lived with me ever since.

Q: What is your "guilty" food pleasure, something you eat that may not fit your image?

A: A tin of sardines!

Q: What is your favorite kitchen tool?

A: The two-pronged fork [carving fork] and the tasting spoon.

Q: Do you have any tips for eating well on a budget?

A: When you love food, you don't have a budget. That is how I feel. But of course, in reality, it is possible to eat well for not a lot of money if you keep things simple!

Q: How long have you known Georges Perrier, and have you cooked together before?

A: We've known each other for 30 years. We were first united by our common base in Lyon. Then, his kindness and joie de vivre  sealed our friendship. And, of course, our shared passion for the same profession has kept us close for this long.

As for our shared culinary experiences, we've never really cooked together. However, I do remember cutting bread and opening bottles at a private meal at his home!

Q: Is this your first time visiting and cooking in Philadelphia?

A: No, it is not my first visit in Philadelphia but, yes, it is the first time I cook there.

Q: Would you consider opening a restaurant in Philly?

A: The city is very interesting, but knowing that I can go to my friend Georges Perrier's restaurant is enough for me.