Alain PERRILLAT-MERCEROT

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

"I left school early because I wanted to do something with my hands," explains Alain Perillat-Mercerot. At the age of 15, he began with a CAP, which he followed with a BP apprenticeship at the Auberge de Letraz, in Sévrier (Haute-Savoie)."It was very tough morally and physically, but if I'm successful in the trade today, it's thanks to experiences like that that toughened me up."

While the young chef is happy in the business, it was his apprenticeship at Le Capucin Gourmand in Vougy (Haute-Savoie) with Guy Barbin that introduced him to another side of the restaurant business. "He showed me where the fun was in this business. That's when I knew I was going to do this for the rest of my life."

After his military service, he discovered Laurent Petit's kitchen at Le Clos des Sens. "I went to Annecy-le-Vieux to eat, it was a kitchen I liked, I put in my CV and the next day I was working there."He stayed for eight years, rising through the ranks to become the chef's assistant. "He's the one who gave me a taste for entrepreneurship. I knew that if I left him I'd be able to set up my own business."

And so it was, in 2001, when he opened his hotel-restaurant Atmosphères, in Bourget-du-Lac, with his wife, Delphine Pontet. Gault&Millau, which described him as"a chef keen to evolve, relying on a terroir that he never ceases to adapt in a modern, pure spirit", quickly awarded him the title of "Chef of the Year".puré", quickly awarded him 2 toques, then 3 toques in 2006, and rewarded him with the Jeune Talent and Tradition d'Aujourd'hui trophies.

I. B.