A two-star restaurant in the former estate of Catherine Deneuve
It only opened in September 2022 and it has already had two stars since March 2023… In the kitchens of the restaurant Les Chemins, in Guainville (Eure-et-Loir), chef Romain Meder, 43, is leading a team of six people. The disciple of Alain Ducasse, originally from Haute-Saône, with three stars for a long time, offers a cuisine centered on plants, whose dishes are created in echo with the gardens of the Primard estate which previously owned by actress Catherine Deneuve and where the restaurant is now located.
Fried cabbage cooked in the embers then pressed, served with a roasted white chicken sausage accompanied by its cabbage stew juice and an oyster for freshness, this is, for example, what you can taste there . “We are starting to have more and more reservations (from the stars). Being in the countryside, it’s a work of patience, word of mouth. It’s not like in Paris, for example, or in other big cities, where the very midday of the announcement, there is a good chance of being sold out. »
The stars, the epicurean born in Vesoul knows them well. The professional had three on his apron when he officiated at the Plaza Athénée in Paris alongside Alain Ducasse. “I am delighted for the teams. This star is a great reward. So, concretely, what difference does it make to have a star? “It doesn’t change anything and it shouldn’t change anything. If we say to ourselves that it will change such and such a thing, it is that we are taking a wrong direction and that we are working for the Michelin star. »
Keeping his culinary identity in sight is therefore the most important thing for the chef. “Rates are not increasing,” he adds. In the restaurants he ran before, and in the Eurelian one now, it is the culinary approach to naturalness that is on the menu. This is what earned him the supreme distinction, in 2016, in Paris. ” It’s a radical culinary approach to nature based on the triptych of vegetables, cereals and fruits, to which are added marine proteins from sustainable fishing. »
This is the DNA of Romain Meder. Less fat, less sugar and more environmentally friendly cooking. “We support French agriculture and fishing. It’s a whole philosophy, an approach, it goes beyond cooking. And this philosophy earned him not one… but two stars! If the first, the red, rewards teamwork, the second, the green star, “represents a commitment: a responsible cuisine that takes sourcing into account, that works with local products, that pays attention to food waste… »
Of the nearly 15,000 restaurants recommended by the Michelin Guide, it is one of 350 establishments awarded such a star. The chef draws the vegetables he needs from the adjoining 300 m2 garden: radishes, new turnips, chard, peas, in a few months, young leeks, carrots, etc. In addition to market gardening, the chef also goes to pick wild plants in the woods and along the river. “This is where this cuisine becomes interesting and important. »
THE restaurant Les Chemins, in Guainville, is open from Thursday evening to Sunday noon. Count between 95 euros and 185 euros for the menus, ranging from three to seven paths.
