Monday whispers – all the news from chefs and gastronomy | Gilles Pudlowski’s blog

Farewell to Jean-Luc Petitrenaud

Writing about the death of a friend immediately after his disappearance is a delicate act. Regarding Jean-Luc Petitrenaud, I am obliged to use the first person to evoke our memories, numerous, greedy, abundant. We were born 20 days apart (Bernard Loiseau was a close second). Suffice to say that he was my astral twin. We had walked the same paths together, had hardly diverged, shared the same love of counters, inns and bistros. Planes rediscovered Strasbourg together in the footsteps of Emile Jung, drank shots of pinot blanc at Yvonne’s, sang at night (” Sidonie had two lovers »…) at the Arsenal of the Schneider brothers. He introduced me to Clermont-Ferrand, its black lava houses, its hilly alleys, its Saint-Pierre market where my friend Jean-Yves Bath from Sarpoil officiated. In Châteaugay, on the edge of his hometown, I attended the baptism of little Louise in the cellar of winemaker Pierre Lapouge. Together, we traveled, worn out, plowed all the roads of France, in search of a farm inn in the Vosges, a post house in Burgundy, a buron in Aubrac. He introduced me to Barfleur, his home port in Cotentin. Had stayed at my place, at the foot of the Northern Vosges, had climbed the paths of Haut-Barr, shared a presskopf, a chicken timbale, a sauerkraut/shock at the Taverne Katz in Saverne, which was then hosted by the rubicond Joseph. We published my first guide to gourmet cities together in 1989. Although our paths had diverged, we remained in constant parallel. I sent him to Jean-Marie Visilit in Condé-Northen (He was supposed to spend a half day there, stayed there for three…). We met in Rouen at Gill’s house, traveled to Rennes, Lille (where we discovered together Robert Bardot, Loïc Martin, Bernard Waterlot – alias “BMW” – and the great Ghislaine Arabian in front of the theater), Lyon, with René Besson known as Bobosse, who cooked three meals from early morning to lunch, and the jovial Jacky Marguin, president of the association of the disciples of Paul Bocuse, without forgetting Nice or Marseille. He made us cry with laughter, Michaël my son and me at the Ritz, in the noble Salle de l’Espadon, then governed by Michel Roth, by transforming himself into a calf’s head, parsley in his nose and a napkin cleverly folded on his head. . He imitated one and the other with the same perfection, the same inexhaustible verve, chuckled, belched, lost his temper, with the ease of a Luchini (his equal) or an Arditi (his friend), revealing himself, with his perfect diction and the moving tone of his voice, playing highs and lows, worthy of his masters Marcel Maréchal and Roger Planchon, whom he always cited as references. A born comedian as well as a long-term columnist, he quickly became a legend. Creating “the day of taste” and animating it with a keen sense of funny pedagogy, multiplying the televised escapades in an English taxi, evoking, on the radio, the sound of Beaujolais and andouillette sizzling on the pan, he knew how to both make us laugh and make us hungry. In short, Jean-Luc was unique. He also became the writer he dreamed of being, paying tribute in particular to his grandmother Louise, and to his family, singing about the good soups of yesteryear and the tartoufles (or potato pâté), making people vibrate in us the great organs of nostalgia. Here I am talking about it in the past tense. We were supposed to have lunch together at the place of our friend Alzérat, who runs the table cork style, at L’Opportun, and it was postponed. We had to do this again last Monday. I tell myself today that there will be no next time. You left way too soon and your latest prank doesn’t make anyone laugh. Jean-Luc, I miss you like everyone else misses you, already.

Amélie Darvas’ projects in Tarascon

His new table at Mont d’Arbois, in the chalet of the same name, is called “ Ame ». In fact, Amélie Darvas reveals a good part of her soul, through a unique menu served every evening, except Sunday and Monday. The brand is intended to last only one season. In Megève, in the elite setting of the Chalet du Mont d’Arbois, we greened the Savoyard decor just for her with its vaults and new tree branches. In this legendary dining room where we have known, at least, Michel Gaudun, Alexandre Faix, Olivier Bardoux, Julien Gatillon, Nicolas Hensinger, who was once called Prima or the 1920, she delivers her own score. With a female team, in the dining room and in the kitchen, coming exclusively from Aponem in Vailhan in Hérault, which was her kingdom, she delivers as is, we were going to say “ body and soul“. Smoked butter toast with truffle and black radish, extraction of mushrooms with nutmeg, “toqué” egg from Lake Geneva, scrambled with smoked eel and grapefruit syrup, crispy Reblochon tartlet with Sallanches honey, olive oil and pollen, or Jerusalem artichoke velouté with smoked bacon cream indicate that this girl from the South can become, when she wants, a great lady of Savoy. The fact remains that she will be, from next summer, in Tarascon, in her new house. It should also offer a largely plant-based cuisine, like this “peasant dish” which once delighted the gourmets of Vailhan and delighted curious Megevans with a splendid broth of burnt bread with leeks and potatoes.

Michel Lentz the mountain wisp

Nothing stops Michel Lentz! This kitchen enthusiast, who fell in love with the mountains, its products, its artisans, was, for a quarter of a century, the star chef of the Royal Evian, practicing both gourmet and starred cuisine at the “Café Royal” which became “ the Frescoes” and the “synergistic” and health one, at “the Veranda”. He was formerly trained in the “ dream team » by Jean-Paul Bonin, formerly at Bristol then at Ambassadeurs du Crillon, with André Signoret (who was chef at Grand Véfour) and Jean-Pierre Biffi (who ran the stoves at Potel & Chabot for a long time), then ran the stoves at Jardin de la Paresse at Parc Montsouris with Nicolas Beytout. That was forty years ago! Of the entire team from its beginnings, Lentz is the only one still active. At 70, he has become a sort of luxury consultant, multiplying gourmet activities with astonishing energy. He is first of all the executive chef of the Sibuet group which controls a good part of the charming Alpine offering in Megève, with the Fermes de Marie, its Carnozet dedicated to cheese and its traditional restaurant, the Mont Blanc and its Relais, the Lodge Park and its table dedicated to fine meats, but also Old Megève, where fondue and raclette reign, and the mountain Relais des Fermes, a high-altitude chalet near the Caboche cable car. We add that he also signs the menu of a luxury mountain restaurant in Zakopane in Poland in the Carpathians, that of a restaurant in Sintra, a chatelaine and aristocratic city neighboring Lisbon in Portugal, while watching, obviously from afar at the Cristal Room Baccarat in Moscow. But the activity in which he puts all his heart as a lover of good mountain products is that of a cheese manufacturer, starting with his beautiful tommes matured on his farm in Combloux and sold in the beautiful stalls and restaurants of the Mont Blanc region. A will-o’-the-wisp that’s not ready to go out.

Alexandre Keff settles in Ventron in the Vosges

He is both an airline pilot for Luxair, the Luxembourg national airline, a member of Relais & Châteaux, with the K hotel, its spa, its luxury rooms, its gourmet counter, its starred restaurant, all neighboring the Saar and of the Grand Duchy, but also, as vice-president of Moselle Attrabilité, the architect of Michelin’s visit to Moselle for the ceremony of its next guide next March. What’s new for this gifted man who succeeds in everything he touches and skillfully shakes up his world: opening a vast mountain hotel in the Vosges which will be a mountain replica of the K, in the Ventron resort. The place was once famous for its Hermitage of Brother Joseph and the historic hotel of the Leduc family – whose famous sisters, ski champions, distinguished themselves during the Squaw Valley Olympics in 1960. The hotel had aged. It was razed and completely rebuilt with 28 luxury rooms including a panoramic suite, a spa, a bistronomic restaurant at lunchtime, and a gourmet restaurant in the evening, under the direction of Benoît Potdevin, starred chef of the K. It will be like a “ copied/pasted from Klauss“, assures Alexandre, associated in this project with Pierre Singer, the former director of the Sainte-Croix Animal Park in Rhodes (Moselle). Name of location: the Mountain Domainquite simply. Scheduled opening: this weekend, subject to the green light given this Wednesday by the security commission.

Thierry Bourdoncle takes over Miocque in Deauville

When asked how many breweries he manages, Thierry Bourdoncle hesitates: “ twenty five?“. But its official website talks about “ 30 establishments spread between Paris, Deauville, Trouville, Arcachon, Megève, Cannes and Saint-Tropez and 1000 employees. ” There Palette in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, a neighborhood he likes, it is him, like the Mabillon, opposite the metro of the same name, the Hibou at the Odéon crossroads and the Atlas rue de Buci, Charlot in the Marais , Durand-Dupont in Neuilly, the White Hibou, Amore Hibou and the Hibou d’Arbois in Megève, the star Sénéquier in St Trop’, California in Cannes, Diego and the Marquises in Arcachon, the Central, Marinette and the Mouettes in Trouville, plus, in Deauville, the Drakkar and the Planches. Its latest acquisition comes from there with the takeover of the legendary Miocque house which was run by the truculent Jacques Aviègne known as Miocque for four decades. No change in cuisine, very traditional brasserie with its Normandy tripe, its beautiful meats, its collection of great Bordeaux, nor decor for the moment. But the house should benefit from a facelift in the spring under the leadership of one of the group’s favorite decorators, Richard Lafond.

Irwin Durand at Irwin in Paris 8th

He was the chef of Guy Savoy’s Chiberta, right next to the Etoile and the Champs-Elysées in Paris 8th. Irwin Durand, who we once knew at Bien Aimé in this same aristo district, set up on his own without changing neighborhood. In April, he opened Irwin, rue Cambacérès, in the former Inte Caffé, a restaurant paying tribute to his grandmother, where he will offer his dishes from memory and his cuisine from the heart. This former Joël Robuchon employee, who worked alongside Sylvestre Wahid in Baumanière and at the Strato in Courchevel, without forgetting the Relais Bernard Loiseau in Saulieu, briefly with Yannick Alléno at Ledoyen, then with Alan Geaam on rue Lauriston, should give his measure personal in an intimate and contemporary residence with its room for 22 seats and a lounge that can accommodate around ten guests. “ My cuisine is a journey through memories, a return to childhood sensations, but with the precision and audacity of a starred chef. Each dish is designed to surprise and amaze, while remaining anchored in the simplicity of our first taste emotions », he notes, not without ambition.

Mélanie Serre in the Marais

She had left Paris for Cap Ferret with her companion Bertrand Guillou-Valentin – with whom she ran the Louis Vins, rue de la Montagne Sainte Geneviève in the 5th. She successfully opened the Auberge du Bassin in Claouey. Mélanie Serre, who was for a time the chef of the Atelier Joël Robuchon Etoile, then advised the Donjon in Etretat and looked after Elsa’s cuisine at the Monte-Carlo Beach in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, continues her activities as a luxury consultant . She will be back in Paris, while keeping more than one foot in Gironde. She will, in fact, sign the menu of the former Sinner hotel, rue du Temple, bought from the Evok group (the Brach, Nolinski, the restaurant of the Palais Royal, the Cour des Vosges) by the Experimental Group, which we know in Verbier, London and Biarritz, and which will simply be called “the Experimental Marais”. Opening planned for spring.