David Toutain

 In thirty years of critics and visits to restaurants all over the world, we had never seen anything like this. The fact of opening a tiny bar –because this is a bar, actually, as the kitchen and the bar, which is an extension of the former, make a whole– in which around twenty people eat on stools, squeezed up, shoulder to shoulder, in an extremely informal way, and getting 9/10 is a real exploit. Ladies and gentlemen, we are before a French number one! Since Pascal Barbot showed up, this had never happened. Let’s repeat it loud and clear: 30-year-old David Toutain, chief cook for three years in Arpège’s as well as in Marc Veyrat’s, is making history.
    Young, informal, direct, … third millennium cuisine. His stay at Passard’s and Veyrat’s have allowed him to increase his culture, to refine his technique and to arouse his passion for vegetables and aromas. This green futurist cuisine moves away from the existing references. Every proposal –every meal consists of 12-14 dishes, depending on the day– rimes with surprising originality and virtuosity. The combination between the naturalism of the very varied dishes and the avant-garde techniques, always subject to the purity of the products, is frankly remarkable. Most ingredients are unknown by the guest, especially plants, herbs and flowers, whose perfumes are used in a magical way. The chef’s message is clearly destined to very open minds and palates, rather than to greedy guests. Not for big eaters.
    If –as we mentioned before– his work is distinguished by nature, it is also characterized by the naturality the dishes are built with. David has an innate gift for creation that he transmits through every dish. He is a creator, a GENIUS. Un genius who doesn’t look for art, because he has got it inside and doesn’t need to show it; he just expresses it with an amazing simplicity. As far as we know, such a grand cuisine had never aroused so little pretentiousness. It doesn’t exist.
    Every dish has got a three-word title, like “Crab, grapefruit and carrot”: a carrot consommé, grey prawns, a segment of the citrus fruit, some rings of the cooked seafood, fennel and coriander flowers. Exquisiteness, purity, subtle and harmonious contrasts. Other proposal: “Egg, almonds and verbena”. The first is cooked at low temperature, the second are very fresh and the third is served in the form of air together with two or three unknown wild scents. “Red mullet, artichoke and Melilo”: the first is cooked at low temperature, the second is baked and seasoned with the third and garnished with a microscopic brunoise of belly pork, tomato and red pepper, and a slight seasoning. The sautéed chard served with grilled cuttlefish, Stilton cream, mustard leaves and flowers deserves 10/10, such as the two carrot versions, treated with galangal and lovage curry and with orange. “Pork and aubergine”: belly pork with aubergine cream and slices of black meringue made with burnt flour. And what can we say about the roasted pigeon with baby sweet corn, sweet corn purée, slices of red onion and cumin/caraway sauce. This is not a kind of cuisine you can describe with words. Sensations are impossible to imagine, here. You must just live them and then, although you might not be able to analyse them, admire them if you are a real gourmet. This restaurant really involves the guest.