the essential
On Boulevard Georges-Leygues, a restaurant has just reopened its doors after a few months of closure. At the origin of this new table, a well-known figure, Jean-Pierre Carrère.
For as long as his friends can remember, Jean-Pierre Carrère has been a man of professional challenges. “It’s true that with my brother Alain, we have always liked this kind of challenge: buying an establishment that is not necessarily doing very well and relaunching it. For this last challenge, I am all alone. When I say it last, it’s because I’m 57 years old. Before that, we took over and relaunched two establishments with my brother in Villeneuve and I took over one in Pujols on my own.
And each time, there was success. First of all, their first big deal Le Terminus on the left bank. “For a first time, it was really risky to get into that. But we went to a good school. We learned a lot while working, when we were young, at the restaurant at the Castelnaud golf course. The Terminus s opportunity “was presented and we wanted to become our own boss, to have our own business.” And indeed, the task was titanic. “We redid everything inside the Terminus. And we innovated by having the longest counter in the department built at the time.” It was in 1990 that the establishment reopened its doors.
And quickly, it became the fashionable place to eat and spend festive evenings. The musicians from the jazz festival came to sleep there during the few years it took place downtown in a New Orleans atmosphere. And it was not uncommon to hear, in the dead of night or at the first light of dawn, trumpet solos escaping from open windows.
André Techiné set up his cameras there in the early 90s. The Terminus became, for a few weeks, the base camp for actors Elodie Bouchez, Gaël Morel and Stéphane Rideau, all beginners at the time, to shoot the film. The wild reeds. The Terminus is even present during the boom scene. “We worked a lot and we invested a lot in it. It was a very good period, and we held it until 2004.” One chapter is closing, another is about to open.
A passage through Pujols and a return to Villeneuve
A new opportunity presents itself in Pujols, with Le Fournil, on Place Saint-Nicolas. Ideas to revive the tourist attractiveness of one of the Most Beautiful Villages in France, the creation of gourmet markets in collaboration with other restaurateurs in the village. The life of the place is resuming, the impetus is given. Then it’s time to move on. Jean-Pierre Carrère then attempted a career change. But he misses certain things, like being his own boss, contact with customers and new challenges. It was then that Alain, his brother, came to offer him a new association. “We set out for a new adventure by taking over Le Glacier”.
Le Glacier, an emblematic establishment on Boulevard Georges-Leygues, originally created by the Guiliano family. High meeting place for the youth of the bastide, sportsmen, headquarters of Villeneuve XIII… There too, the 2 brothers made a decision, which was perhaps surprising at the time, but which turned out to be a winning bet. “We redid everything inside. Broke everything and rebuilt everything. And of course, we kept the name.” They remained in charge of this legendary place for 7 years, relaunching it, restoring its former success and its place in the city center’s commercial offering. Here too, a new attempt for Jean-Pierre to reconvert. Until a new opportunity.
“La Table du 7” on the boulevard
This opportunity sits right next to his latest achievement. La table des Barriques, adjoining the Glacier, is for sale. “At 57, I wanted to set up and relaunch one last business. I know this boulevard well and I have very good relationships with my neighbors. I know there is room for what I want to do “. He therefore embarks on this last adventure. The most difficult thing is to find competent, professional staff ready to invest – as with everyone in the catering industry. “The hardest part is finding a chef. And I found him.” This is Maxime Cillières, known to Villeneuvois gastronomes for having studied in the kitchen of the Michelin-starred restaurant “La Table des Sens”. A second in the person of Clément, two young people in the dining room, Sarah and Gabriel, a complete makeover of the establishment, a brand new kitchen… And the day before the music festival, the first service is launched. “I would have preferred to open a little earlier before this important date for restaurateurs. So that everyone can have time to get their bearings. But hey, we have to deal with it. Everything will go well and the season will be off to a good start” .
And for the record, why “La Table du 7”? The response is immediate. “I have always kept the name of the establishments that I have taken over. And as we are at number 7 of the future Allée Georges-Leygues…”.
