For the presentation of the new guide dedicated to the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, Gault&Millau rewarded, on Monday 30th January, the region’s chefs and restaurant professionals during the Gault&Millau Tour. The event took place at the Abbey of Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, at Paul Bocuse’s home.
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The godfather: Stéphane Buron
A member of the “Voltaire” class of the Best Workers of France (MOF) competition in 2004 (the same year as Emmanuel Renaut, Christophe Bacquié and Mathieu Viannay), Stéphane Buron is today inseparable from the Chabichou, in Courchevel, where he has been working for more than thirty years. Never flashy, never demonstrative, his cooking is above all filled with love and delicacy…
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Gault&Millau d’Or : Stéphane Froidevaux, Le Fantin Latour (Grenoble)
Before moving to Grenoble in 2007 to take over Le Fantin Latour, Stéphane Froidevaux worked for nine years alongside Marc Veyrat. Strongly influenced by his long stay with the chef in his hat, he likes above all to draw peace and inspiration from long walks in the mountain pastures. His cuisine is full of sensitivity and finesse and smells of nature and pure mountain air. So free, so happy: this is the smiling Stéphane Froidevaux who welcomes you today with his generosity and simplicity.
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Future Great : Guido Niño Torres, Likoké (Les Vans)
Born in Colombia, Guido Niño Torres studied at the French high school in Cali before taking his CAP (vocational training certificate) in cooking in Avignon, followed by a Bachelor’s degree in hotel management. After Michel Kayser, in Garons (Gard), and Wout Bru, in Eygalières (Bouches-du-Rhône), the young chef joined Les Vans as sous chef. When asked what attracted Guido Niño Torres to the Ardèche region, and more particularly to Likoké, the Colombian chef does not hesitate: “The freedom to orient my dishes as I want. Here I am given a canvas which I can paint as I wish. My cooking is neither Colombian nor Ardèche. It is composite and looks like me. »
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Young Talent : Pierre-Michaël Martin, Chez Pimousse (Lyon)
Pimousse ? This is the name of Pierre-Michaël Martin’s restaurant on the banks of the Saône in Lyon. This is also his nickname: “Like the candy, small but strong, that’s what I’ve been called since I worked in the kitchen of 33 Cité. Nobody knows my first name, or almost nobody!” Describing him as “THE discovery of the moment“, Gault&Millau immediately awarded him 2 toques, the Jeune Talent Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes trophy and selected him for the 2023 edition of 109 – Le Sang neuf de la gastronomie française. The locals love its sweetbreads, which are available all year round. The chef has made it his signature dish, with a variation for each season.
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Techniques of Excellence Trophy : Pierre et Valentin Marin, Restaurant Lamartine (Le Bourget-du-Lac)
For Pierre Marin, the restaurant business is a family affair. For more than twenty-five years, he and his wife have been running the Lamartine, a restaurant on the shores of Lac du Bourget, created by his parents in 1964. Pierre Marin passed on to his son a taste for cooking, and more particularly for pastry-making. He has been a commis for the Four Seasons George V and chef de partie at the Kaiku, a 3-toque restaurant in Saint-Jean-de-Luz. Valentin then tried to consolidate his experience abroad, but the Covid-19 pandemic forced him to change his plans. Since his return to France, he has worked with his father in the family restaurant.
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Reception Trophy : Patrick Quard, Café de l’Ardèche (Montélimar)
In Montélimar, the Café de L’Ardèche has been an institution for over 150 years. Today it is under the leadership of the current owner Patrick Quard, a man with an amazing background. Born into a large family, he discovered cooking with his parents in their hotel in Valmorel, which was sold in 1990. In the meantime, his family, who had become the owners of the Café de l’Ardèche, saw the site fall into decline. Determined to save this historic address, he bought the business to restore it to its former glory. In August 2017, after more than three years of work, the establishment reopened. It is a success, quickly rewarded with 1 toque, then 2.
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Sommelier Trophy : Arnaud Kunz, Le Pré – Xavier Beaudiment (Durtol)
Originally from Auvergne, Arnaud Kunz’s parents moved back to the Puy-de-Dôme when he was 13. He studied at the Chamalières hotel school, then left in 2004 for Guy Savoy before joining the George V in Paris. Arnaud Kunz then decided to return to the Puy-de-Dôme. “I had met Xavier Beaudiment on the benches of the school, and I found him in 2011 in his establishment. I am still there. ” Chef Xavier Beaudiment and room manager Stéphane Mallet form a trio that makes Le Pré, in Durtol, near Clermont-Ferrand, shine.
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Today’s Tradition : Harry Lester, Le Saint-Eutrope (Clermont-Ferrand)
The self-taught chef learned his trade quickly and well. In 2003, he opened his first restaurant in London, The Anchor & Hope, with two partners.It was crazy, the press was talking about us. ” After a few years of building up a small nest egg, Harry Lester and his wife Alexandra wanted to change their lives and cross the Channel to settle in the Haute-Loire. They bought the Auberge de Chassignolles, in the village of the same name. Again, it is a success. The restaurant is fully booked every night or almost every night in season. Then, with their two children, they decided to move closer to the city and settle in Clermont-Ferrand. In 2013, the couple bought and restored a neighbourhood restaurant, Le Saint-Eutrope, a table with authentic cuisine that enhances the best local products.
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Sea, Lakes and Rivers Cuisine Trophy: Ismaël Adam Drissi-Bakhkhat – Noé Atelier de la Mer (Lyon)
Ismaël Adam Drissi-Bakhkhat is one of those people who can do everything. As a child, the young chef was always surrounded by the world of gastronomy. Among the many odd jobs he has done, he works at the scallop shops, at the Halles de Lyon, or as a seafood trader in England. It was at this time that he met an oyster farmer who taught him traditional methods. With his wife, he decided to return to France and settle in Lyon to launch Noé Atelier de la Mer. «We started with the workshop, where we make canned fish and fish-based delicatessen dishes. The restaurant came after. ” Self-taught, Ismaël Adam Drissi-Bakhkhat came to cooking through management and trained with the chefs he worked with.
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Terroir d’Exception Trophy : Jérémy Trincaz, Les Cornettes (La Chapelle-d’Abondance)
As a teenager, Jérémy Trincaz helped his father in the kitchen, then went to the École hôtelière in Thonon-les-Bains, where he obtained his professional baccalaureate and his BTS. Brilliant, he graduated top of his class and 2nd in the regional competition. Jérémy Trincaz did his first internship with Régis Marcon, then spent a season at the Hostellerie Jérôme, in La Turbie, with the chef Bruno Cirino. He then moved to Paris and worked for several months at the Shangri-La, alongside Philippe Labbé. In 2013, he joined the family business (he represents the fifth generation) in La Chapelle-d’Abondance and worked with his father, who passed on his knowledge. Having become a chef following the death of his father, Jérémy Trincaz returns to the essentials in his menus, which vary four times a year. “We make home-made and local food. We’ve always done it this way.»
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Young Talent in the Room : Quentin David, Cœur de Megève (Megève)
Being a good student, Quentin David passed his baccalaureate and went on to study maths at university. Following a winter job as a pizza maker in Megève, a job he enjoyed, he decided to join the Vatel school. He did his first internship in the luxury sector at the Sofitel Golfe in Ajaccio, where he had the opportunity to showcase his talent. Then the young man returned to the mountains in 2022, where he joined the Coeur de Megève hotel. At just 23 years of age, he was awarded the Jeune Talent en Salle Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes trophy, his first award.
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Eloquence Trophy : Ugo Palama – Le Saint-Nicolas
Saint-Nicolas is the story of a team of young enthusiasts who felt a bit cramped or stuck in their star-studded homes. Marvin Lance, 27 years old, former second-in-command and trained by Julien Gatillon, former executive chef of the Four Seasons in Megève, has the dexterity and concentration of the young wolves, with a desire to make his own way, to create, to find his marks. This is also the case for Ugo Palama, who works in the dining room with professionalism and has the ambition of passing the MOF maître d’hôtel competition.
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Pastry Trophy : Maxime Binjamin, Domaine du Colombier (Malataverne)
“Even if my father, a cook, and my uncle, a pastry chef, encouraged me to do another job, I always wanted to do this!” says Maxime Binjamin. After a CAP and a complementary mention in pastry and restaurant desserts, he did his first year of apprenticeship with Rémi Sendin, at Le Laurent, in Paris, where he acquired solid foundations. In 2020, Maxime Binjamin took up his first position as pastry chef at the Domaine du Colombier, in Malataverne, where he began working alongside the 3-toque chef Jean-Michel Bardet. Noted for his unusual desserts and vegetable creations – sweet potato tamarind hibiscus or citrus wakame matcha – Maxime Binjamin has found his place in the team.
By Lisa Marchal
