Launched for the 2020 vintage, the
109
Gault & Millau selection seems more necessary than ever this year.
Intended to promote young talents who bring "new blood" to French cuisine, it therefore highlights in its 2021 edition which has just been published (220 pages; € 9.50) 109 young (or less young) restaurateurs who have had the courage to take the plunge despite the pandemic.
“Look at the photos, read the chronicles. These are not reports, cold and clinical, they are stories. Because a new restaurant is above all a human adventure "
declares Marc Esquerré, director of yellow guides, who observes that the 2021 class shares
" an enterprising and joyful spirit, which defies gloom and apprehensions to create, invent , innovate, boldly and confidently ”
.
25 new restaurants in Paris
To discover, 109 portraits of men and women who have just opened or taken over a restaurant in the four corners of France: 25 tables in Paris, but also 6 in Toulouse, 5 in Marseille or 3 in Rennes, Nantes, Lorient, Montpellier, Lyon or Annecy ...
Among them, six are the subject of a crush and are highlighted as
“the great of tomorrow”
by the guide founded more than 50 years ago by Henri Gault and Christian Millau.
A prize list, once is not customary, which has the good idea of being very feminine (5 women out of 6 nominated).
The lucky ones are:
Sophie Reignier, head of Iodé, in Vannes, where this former member of Alan Geaam, beneficiary of a Young Talents Gault & Millau endowment, is shaking up land-sea associations, like her sardine-pigeon association.
Laetitia Visse, head of La Femme du Boucher, in Marseille (6th), barely thirty years old and a solid career behind her (Olivier Nasti, Alain Dutournier, Guy Savoy), which she takes advantage of with unfussy dishes in her neighborhood bistro.
Charlotte Giraud, chef of the Elephants, in Paris (17th arrondissement), a natural wine bistro adept at short circuits, sustainable fishing and traced meats.
Mélanie Serre, chef of Louis Vins (5th arrondissement), a neo-traditional wine bistro where this former member of Joël Robuchon's Workshop deploys bourgeois and rascal cuisine.
Laura Portelli, chef of Pique-Nique (1st), chic canteen in Châtelet where Christophe Saintagne's wife develops Sunday cuisine
Josselin Marie, chef of the Table de Colette, in Paris (5th), an eco-responsible and zero-carbon restaurant, where the holder of the Young Talents endowment orchestrates a personal cuisine of Breton inspiration.