These chef's restaurants where it's good to take away

In the restaurant business, no one has forgotten March 14, 2020, when the government announced the closure of "all businesses not essential to the life of the country". When, three days later, the French experienced the first confinement, restaurateurs and cooks had no choice but to reinvent their trade. The aim was to withstand the sanitary storm, while waiting for authorization to set the table again...

Take-away sales were the obvious solution. Thinking up gourmet recipes to be reheated at home, looking for containers that would guarantee the quality of the preparations... The whole profession was up in arms, and proved to be far more essential than the political rhetoric would have us believe... Nearly four years on, it's time to take stock. And while the opposition between traditional catering and take-away has long been maintained, embodied by the business of behemoths such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats, some chefs have taken this formula and personalized it to their own advantage. Here are five examples of success stories that are still relevant today.

Nicolas Gautier - restaurant Nature et Bistrot RG in Armentières

Whether it's a dish of the day borrowed from Bistrot RG or a menu adapted for children, chef Nicolas Gautier has even managed to jar veal head and its gribiche sauce, a family recipe that the northern chef learned from his father. In March 2020, Nicolas Gautier launched his takeaway business."We waited three weeks before offering it. We wanted to think about the logistics so that it was consistent with what we were serving before closing. We couldn't advocate responsible, locally-sourced cuisine before closing, only to end up serving takeaway food in plastic trays," revealed the Armentières-based chef. Nearly four years after the first confinement, Nicolas Gautier's jars are still a success, even if the offer has evolved."The contents still correspond to our bistro's menu, but we now offer a cleaning service to encourage customers to recycle," agrees Nicolas Gautier.

• 20 place Saint-Vaast, 59280 Armentières
• Read Gault&Millau's review of the Nature restaurant

Jean-Luc Tartarin - Les Tartarinades in Le Havre

Brandade de morue, velouté de pommes de terre et truffes, parmentier de queue de boeuf..."Our jars preserve family recipes. We deliberately offer dishes that reassure and feel good," says Annabelle Tartarin, head of the boutique Les Tartarinades, which is attached to her husband's gourmet restaurant. The restaurateur got involved in the takeaway business when she learned of the restaurant closures at the start of the health crisis. "I couldn't understand why we weren't considered essential businesses. That's why, for the first seven months of the health crisis, I set up a shop/grocery within the restaurant itself", she recalls. She continues: "A space next door became available some time after the restaurant reopened. We then decided to make the store permanent". Here, you can find the sourdough bread served in the restaurant, as well as the same wines from the wine list, and traditional pastries such as flan and tarte tatin, specially made for the shop. "Thanks to this new activity, we've met a clientele we didn't used to get at the restaurant", says a delighted Madame Tartarin.

• 6 rue Raoul Dufy, 76600 Le Havre
• Read Gault&Millau's review of Les Tartarinades

Les Tartarinades

Stéphanie Le Quellec - Mam in Paris

Mam is the nickname given to her by Stéphanie Le Quellec 's three children. Behind the diminutive name lies a desire to evoke the reassuring family spirit of recipes handed down from generation to generation. It's precisely these generous dishes that the chef has decided to serve, by delivery or takeaway, while she waits to reopen her gourmet table at the end of 2020. This "kitchen house" offers a more relaxed way of discovering the talent of the former Top Chef winner. Accompanied by her pastry chef Pierre Chirac, Stéphanie Le Quellec offers a range of sweet and savory dishes.like this shoulder of lamb confit with zaatar or this fricassee of scallops à la dieppoise.

• 22 rue Fourcroy, 75017 Paris
• Read Gault&Millau's review of Mam

Christophe and Gaëlle Favre - L'Auberge de Buellas in Buellas

Owners of the Auberge de Buellas since 1999, Christophe and Gaëlle Favre had the ingenious idea of offering a gourmet takeaway service 24/7. How do they do it? By relying on self-service crates, similar to those selling fresh vegetables on country roadsides. It's true that we're never safe from a little untimely hunger... For restaurateurs, it's a way of contributing to the vitality of their village. "We firmly believe that every village, every hamlet, has a soul, a story to tell. With our inn, we don't just want to serve meals, but to rekindle the heart of the countryside, forge links between locals and visitors, and revive the community spirit that has always been the bedrock of our rural traditions. Revitalizing the countryside is not just an ambition, it's a mission that we carry out with passion every day," they explain.

• 10 route de Buesle, 01310 Buellas
• Read Gault&Milau's review of the Auberge de Buellas

©CF

Julien Gautier - M Restaurant in Lyon

30,000 euros... That's how much the takeaway sale orchestrated by M Restaurant in Lyon generated last year. "It's a small amount of cash flow that's not insignificant, especially as it's so easy to set up," confides Julien Gautier. The former chef of Léon de Lyon structured this offer a month after the first confinement. "I couldn't take it anymore," he says. He continues: "Initially, I chose a few simple products to prepare effective recipes. And very quickly, we had success, pushing us to compose a menu with two starters, one meat, one fish and two desserts. Above all, the takeaway enabled us to keep in touch with our customers". Four years after the start of the health crisis, Julien Gautier admits that the business is doing well, especially during major events such as Valentine's Day, Easter and Christmas.

• 47 avenue Foch, 69006 Lyon
• Read Gault&Millau's review of M Restaurant