Freia, Sarah Mainguy's new restaurant, opens soon in Nantes

After Vacarme, Sarah Mainguy will open her second restaurant, Freia, in February, in an unusual setting. Here's what the chef has in store for us.

Mathilde Bourge Published on 1/8/24 at 2:45 PM

Sarah Mainguy is off to a flying start in 2024. Nearly five years after opening Vacarme in Nantes, the young chef will be inaugurating a second establishment in the heart of the city in mid-February, with a more upscale offering and a bucolic setting.

Freia, Sarah Mainguy's second restaurant

This new restaurant, christened Freia, will be set up on a rooftop, on the 6ᵉ floor of a parking lot opposite the Nantes train station. "We're really above the rails, with an unobstructed view of Nantes, but the idea will be to bring a bit of nature back to the city center," assures Sarah Mainguy. "The tables will be set up under a large transparent greenhouse. There will be an urban garden outside, and a Scandinavian or even Japanese atmosphere inside, with lots of wood and light. The two spaces will form a true continuum. In summer, the greenhouse will even be able to open almost completely to take advantage of the fine weather."

While the chef and her team will continue to source their produce from local growers, the aim is to become self-sufficient in herbs. "Our market gardener, Alice Ménard, created the garden. We already worked with her at Vacarme and she will be a major player in the restaurant," points out the chef who won the Gault&Millau Jeune Talent award in 2022.

In terms of cuisine, Freia will aim to be more gastronomic than Vacarme (120 euros for an 8-course menu), while at the same time breaking away from codes. "We'll be offering a raw cuisine, with a focus on plants, but not just plants. The most important thing is to remain rooted in the Nantes terroir. We'll still have coffee on the menu, but no chocolate or spices, for example. The idea will be to find alternative tastes using aromatic plants from the garden", explains Sarah Mainguy. Ancestral preservation techniques, such as fermentation, confisage or dehydration, will be used to bring flavour and depth to the plate.

A final important point for the chef is the work on alcohol-free pairings. "We have a zero waste approach. We'regoing to use vegetable and fruit offcuts, as well as herbs, to create fermented drinks, infused drinks, juices... The idea is to have no industrial beverages and to take the pairing as far, if not further, than we could with wine." To be continued in the coming weeks!