I’m from Picardy, I travel a lot, and I am crazy about the Savoy. I created the “Flocons de Sel” in Megève 10 years ago.
I trained in Paris, and started my career at Les Ambassadeurs, the restaurant of Le Crillon, with Christian Constant, as part of a team with, amongst others, Eric Fréchon and Yves Camdeborde. Then I joined Marc Veyrat at L’Auberge de l’Eridan, and was second in command to him for 7 years.
This experience was broken by a spell with the maestro of the sweet, Yves Thuriès, in Cordes. After a period in London, when I was in charge of the kitchens at Claridge’s, I came back to the mountains and set up in Megève.
Already MOF (Best Worker of France) and Compagnon du Tour de France, I won a second star in 2006.
Over the last two years, I have put the finishing touches to my natural habitat by setting up a cookery school, a bistrot, a hotel and a leisure centre.
What was your most moving culinary experience?
At the restaurant of Alex Atala, in Sao Paulo, which offers local cuisine with a whole new take on gastronomy.
The most amusing kitchen incident you ever witnessed?
I was to serve a dinner at the home of one of my clients. The dessert was an enormous pièce montée which had taken half a day to make. As I didn’t know my way, I followed my client who had set off at a cracking pace along a series of hairpin bends. Unfortunately the pièce montée did not survive the journey: I had to dismantle it piece by piece and serve the choux balls directly on the plate.
Your best piece of advice for amateur chefs?
Respect tradition, don’t turn up your nose at family dishes, enjoy a good leg of lamb, a beautifully golden, free-range roast chicken or a fillet of beef en croûte - never a bad choice.
France
