Samuel Albert, winner of “Top Chef”, is bringing back to life an emblematic Angers brasserie!

Big winner of season 10 of the culinary show “Top Chef” on M6, while he is executive chef of the Belgian embassy in Japan, Samuel Albert has taken over the brasserie of the Angers theater since last October, Place du Ralliement and its 500 seats. With his two partners, the winner of the 2019 edition invested nearly two and a half million euros to restore this historic establishment, which was “in disrepair”.

A clientele “jet set”

Trained at the Saumur hotel school and already chef of the restaurant “Les Petits Prés” (opposite), Samuel Albert thinks he has found the recipe. “Since I took over this establishment, we have been offering cuisine of great French tradition. We mainly use – more than 80% – local products from the Maine et Loire region, and we work with seasonal products, in order to create dishes of great French gastronomy, dishes to share, and more sophisticated plates. erect. We try to please as many people as possible by creating a great Parisian brasserie, but in Angevin style!

“Top Chef” has given me a lot of help in recruiting. This allowed me to have young cooks, who want to come and work with me, and to have kept a foothold with a certain “jet set” clientele who come here to the brewery. Even culinary speaking, it has given me a lot and I think it will continue to do so in the years to come.”

Credit : Tom Rossi

“Those who are going to put the most money into the region over time are us.”

The project of Samuel Albert and his associates was accepted by the commercial court even though it was in competition with others. What made the difference? “We were chosen based on a real project, replies Samuel Albert. Our direct competitors were a large frozen food center located near Paris, which made 90 100% frozen à la carte dishes. We, on the other hand, carried out a real staff training project. Today, we have around six to seven apprentices on the CCI; we only buy fresh, and we buy a lot locally.

In reality, they put 300,000 euros more on the table but as I said in court, the 300,000 in the territory, I will largely put them over the next ten years because 60% of our wine list today Today are local winegrowers and 80% of our products are purchased from Maine et Loire and the territory. I will never go to Brazil to get my poultry, even if it would be much cheaper. My poultry is an “Anjou Maine” appellation. Those who are going to put the most money into the region over time are us.”

Credit : Tom Rossi

At the Brasserie du Ralliement in Angers, count on €24 for the starter-main course-dessert lunch menu and €32 in the evening.

All the information on the first restaurant “Les Petits Prés“, Click here.