Chefs who enjoy a certain reputation sometimes allow themselves some infidelity in their kitchens to officiate abroad, where they are invited. This is also true for star chefs from Tours, like Gaëtan Evrard, of the restaurant L’Évidence, in Montbazon (one Michelin star) who indulges in a few exotic escapades from time to time.
He returned from a week in the Caribbean, in the Turks and Caicos Islands, a British territory south of the Bahamas. The Rochecorbon winemaker Frédéric Bourillon accompanied him there. It was a mutual friend from Tours, Franck Chantoiseau, general manager of one of the most beautiful palaces on the islands, the Rock House Hotel, who invited the duo.
The Rochecorbon winemaker Frédéric Bourillon was invited to participate in these “wine dinners” by the general manager of the luxury Caribbean hotel, the Tourangeau Franck Chantoiseau.
© (Photo J. Hulin)
Franck Chantoiseau grew up in the Vallée Violette district of Joué-lès-Tours before studying hospitality in Australia. After working in large hotels in Thailand, Macau and Shanghai, he flew to the Caribbean a few years ago.
A posh American clientele won over by the Tourangeaux duo
The winemaker Frédéric Bourillon met him at a wine fair in Hong Kong. “Franck had the good idea of inviting Gaëtan and me for a week of exceptional dinners around wine. We said yes straight away,” smiles the vouvrillon winegrower. Who embarked on this adventure with 120 bottles from his estate in his luggage.
The chef and winemaker have concocted exceptional menus for the palace’s exclusive clientele. Gaëtan Evrard had imagined his dishes based on the wines (Vouvray exclusively) that his friend would bring.
Vouvray 1947 at the end of the meal: the Americans loved it!
In the end, these food and wine pairings won over the five-star clientele. “They are very well-off tourists, used to great restaurants, but the fact of pairing dishes with wines, and in this case with different white wines from the same estate, they are not used to that,” observes Jessie Hulin, sales representative for Domaine Bourillon, who was part of the trip. “Especially since we concluded the meals with my grandfather’s 1947 Vouvray, it excited more than one person. An American couple even told me it was the happiest day of their life.”confides Frédéric Bourillon.
Back from their Caribbean trip, the two friends will meet again this week in another environment, to reach yet another clientele, that of the Tours fair. Gaëtan Evrard will treat his guests in his gourmet restaurant while Frédéric Bourillon and his sons run the estate’s stand. “It’s the most beautiful gastronomic fairground village in all of France! “, insists the winegrower. Spread the word !
Touraine residents exiled for the better
Their names are Guillaume Galliot, Bruno Ménard, Jean-Claude Bourgueil, Thierry Voisin, and they all have in common that they are great Michelin-starred chefs from Tours who work abroad. Ambassadors of French gastronomy who cut their teeth in Touraine, in the country, before leaving for distant horizons.
– Jean-Claude Bourgueil, born on 1er May 1947 in Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine, left in 1970 for Madrid, before Switzerland then Germany. He settled in Düsseldorf where he obtained two Michelin stars in 1977. The consecration came in 1988 with the three stars. In 2018, Jean-Claude Bourgueil closed his restaurant at the age of 71, after forty years of service.
– Guillaume Galliot, originally from Joué-lès-Tours, is based in Hong Kong, where he obtained three Michelin stars in his restaurant Caprice at the Four Seasons hotel.
– Thierry Voisin, Tourangeau, former right-hand man of Gérard Boyer (Reims, Les Crayères, three stars) has been based in Japan for around ten years. He is the chef of the luxury restaurant Les Saisons at the Imperial Hotel in Tokyo (1 star).
– Bruno Ménard, from Tours, former student of chef Jean Bardet, managed the restaurant at the Ritz Carlton in Atlanta (United States) before leaving for Japan, where, in Tokyo, his restaurant L’Osier had 3 stars at the Michelin Guide.
We will also add to this list Akrame Benallal, the Tourangeau who runs his starred restaurant, Akrame, in Paris 8e, opened Shirvan restaurants in Azerbaijan in Baku, in Morocco in Marrakech and in Qatar in Doha. He also owns the Vivanda in Orly and Istanbul.
