Jacques Marcon, Gault&Millau d'Or 2024 for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region

Émilie Lesur | 2/5/24, 4:55 PM

During the Gault&Millau Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes 2024, chef Jacques Marcon was named Gault&Millau d'Or.

Grandmother, father, soon to be little brother... For the Marcon family, cooking is a true family affair. Jacques Marcon, the third generation of this line of restaurateurs from Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid in the Haute-Loire region of France, was designed Gault&Millau d'Or 2024 for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region at the Gault&Millau Tour held in Lyon on February 5, 2024.

Jacques Marcon's recognition by Gault&Millau

The history of this dynasty is rooted in the words of one of the founders of the Guide Jaune. Christian Millau had already spotted the family's talent when he wrote an article in 1986, which drew crowds to the Marcon establishment, as they themselves say. Since then, the clientele has continued to grow. "Jacques Marcon undoubtedlyhad a taste for learning and retaining. For whatever his father, Régis, was able to instill in him went far beyond the circumference of the plate. Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid isn't just an inn, it's a universe, a nature, a landscape that Régis introduced us to forty years ago," says Marc Esquerré, director of the investigations. The chef confided that he had never thought of doing anything other than cooking,"out of attachment to the village", and today considers himself a true innkeeper.

"Every generation brings new knowledge and new ideas. Jacques Marcon didn't become a great chef by mimicry or as a simple repository of his father's legacy. The inn's cuisine is evolving, too: vegetables are taking on their rightful place, and while mushrooms are still a connoisseur's treasure, the dishes of recent seasons have taken on a more contemporary flavour," continues Marc Esquerré.

A title, a story of transmission

20 years in the kitchen deserves a reward. Here's a nice one. "Working with your father requires a lot of adjustments. We're in the business of art, with all those sudden shots that are sometimes hard to manage. For us, it's a job we've been doing every day for 20 years. This is reflected in the quality and consistency of our house. It's important to have my father by my side to receive this title." Jaques Marcon makes no secret of the fact that the duo he forms with his father works thanks to mutual support, "between the two of us, we've made a great team!"

▶ Find the full portrait of chef Jacques Marcon in the Headliners section of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes guide on sale this Thursday, February 8, 2024.

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