Hautes-Alpes for women. Meetings with these women in the hotel and catering industry

Colette Jullien cooks high-Alpine specialties at Tourton des Alpes

In 2006, Colette Jullien took over the restaurant The Tourton des Alpes, in Gap, with an associate. Since 2012, she has held the reins of the business alone. Not enough to intimidate the restaurateur who, after studying and working in accounting, converted to catering in the 1990s. The accounting firm closed and I wanted to change careers. I passed a CAP then a BEP in cooking », she informs. With her diplomas in hand, Colette managed and cooked in different establishments in Champsaur and Gap.

“ I learned to make tourtons with my mother”

And since then, nothing has stopped this Champsaurine. In order to produce its tourtons, expand its range and develop their marketing, in 2014 it began building a production workshop in Théus, which it sold in 2023. I learned to make tourtons from my mother. From now on I get my tortons from the one who bought the workshop from me. », indicates Colette Jullien. In 2019, she opened a takeaway store in Gap. The business manager constantly rolls up her sleeves, behind the stove and in the dining room to be close to her customers. But retirement is near and Colette has put up for sale The Tourton des Alpes.

Alexia. B is a home chef

Since December 2021, Alexia burger has become Alexia. B, chef and home caterer in Briançonnais. After an interview with customers, she develops tailor-made products, according to their desires and needs. Then she takes care of the shopping and cooks partly at home or at the customer’s rental location. And yet, the one who comes from a family of butchers and caterers and whose father is a chef, refused this profession for a long time.

“ Cuisine must sparkle, create emotions, give a taste of the real thing, make people smile »

After studying jewelry and working in the image and beauty industry, she’s packing everything in to hit the road in 2020. With the aim of discovering the French region, its gastronomy and its roots. She practices woofing – she works on farms in exchange for room and board. But confinement stops him in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence at an artisan baker. As September approaches, she makes an appointment with the director of the Sisteron hotel school to take a CAP in cooking. But finally, Alexia joins the school in BTS 2^eyear and graduates, “ it was dense and difficult “. But she put into words what she liked : creativity, daring and traveling cuisine. Since then, she has been testing, mixing colors and textures, daring with spices, transforming products, promoting vegetables from her garden and cooking local and seasonal products. “ Cuisine must sparkle, create emotions, give a taste of the real thing, make people smile », assures Alexia.

Fabienne Arnaud brought life back to the village

At the end of 1998, Fabienne Arnaud and her partner bought Fabienne’s grandparents’ house, in Agnières-en-Dévoluy.

The couple has one goal in mind: to renovate and reopen the establishment. Because this place was in its time a bar, a restaurant, a hotel but also the place of practice of a farrier. Everything had been closed for over 20 years.

“It’s a homecoming for me”

“We sold our hotel-restaurant in Gard to buy this house. It’s a return to my roots for me, explains Fabienne Arnaud. Returning to Dévoluy was vital. I don’t like the city, I need to be in contact with nature. » Since 2000, the house which became the bar-restaurant The spark.

The opening took place in two stages, first the bar then the restaurant in May 2001. Since then, the establishment has become a real meeting place and social connection for the people of the village. They come to play cards, have a drink, and catch up on each other. Fabienne, who has run the establishment alone since the end of 2021, tries to provide different services to the population. “I also sell The Dauphiné Libéré on Sunday and I provide a tobacco deposit. I even had a bread store that I closed when a bakery opened in a neighboring village. Bringing Agnières back to life was important,” she says. And if finding a clientele was not easy at the beginning – “my partner worked nearby” – she became loyal over the years. The restaurant, naturally labeled Hautes-Alpes, offers traditional cuisine and grilled meats cooked over a wood fire.

As part of the Women’s Trophée Hautes-Alpes, you can vote for one of these three candidates by clicking on this link.