David Toutain, Akrame Benallal, Claire Heitzler ... The new chefs in vogue!
David Toutain, Akrame Benallal and Claire Heitzler are part of these new chefs who are maddening Paris. Thirty, they are at the head of a restaurant, pastry chef of a restaurant gastronomic or globetrotter in search of new flavors, these chefs have only one passion: cooked.
Akrame Benallal, the thinking head
When he arrives in France in 1994 at the age of thirteen, Akrame does not know much about cooked French. He embarked on restoration work and joined the brigades of Pierre Gagnaire, Alain Solivérès and Ferran Adria (El Bulli) in Spain. He was not yet 25 when he became chef at the Château des Sept Tours in Tours. In 2005, here he opens his first restaurant, the Akrame Workshop.
But he wants to fly on his own in Paris and opens in 2011 a restaurant instead of an old Guy Savoy bistro. Dedicated by a star this year to the Michelin guide, at Akrame we only offer imposed menus.
David Toutain, the indefatigable journeyur
This Norman rarely defeats his suitcases. He went through the kitchens of Arpège where Alain Passard appoints him second only 21 years. Four years later, he discovers kitchens flowers of Marc Veyrat, then those of Mugaritz. Then, he embarks on an American adventure with Paul Liebrandt at Corton (2 stars in New York). Here he is ready for the challenge Agapè Substance, restaurant laboratory imagined with Laurent Lapaire. A long table d'hôte that sinks into a cooked ultra open. We eat there both in the room and in cooked. This chef has the sense of product and just cooking. He remains 18 months at the head of this gastronomic counter and for a culinary tour around the world.
Claire Heitzler, the daughter of delights
Born in Alsace, Claire Heitzler moved to Troisgros, Georges Blanc and Jean-Paul Abadie, before joining Alain Ducasse's team in Japan. At 26, the grand chef entrusted him with the management of a team of 10 Japanese pastry chefs. Then she flies to Dubai for two years and is recalled by the Ritz.
Since 2010, it has invested kitchens from Lasserre to Paris. For this prestigious establishment, it honors the great classics of French pastry she revisits including the fruits of the season. Voted Pastry Chef of the Year 2012 by the magazine Claire Heitzler renews the feat in 2013 with the Gault Millau.
