Antoine WESTERMANN

Chef : 2 restaurants Antoine Westermann is one of the biggest names in French gastronomy of his generation. After taking Le Buerehiesel to the top, the Alsatian chef is now delighting Parisian poultry lovers at Coq & Fils - The Poultry House.

Presentation

"As a child, I knew I wanted to be a chef," says Antoine Westermann. To make his dream come true, the teenager enrolled at Strasbourg's hotel school and apprenticed at the Buffet de la Gare, a renowned local restaurant serving bourgeois cuisine. With his CAP in hand, the young commis ventured to Germany, where he worked at Erbprinz in Ettlingen and L'Écrevisse in Brumath. Supported by his father, who bought him Le Buerehiesel in 1969, the 23-year-old took up his first position as chef. It was the start of a successful career. Gault&Millau quickly awarded him 2 toques, then 3, then 4... until the consecration in 1992, when the Guide Jaune awarded him a mark of 19/20, i.e. 5 toques .

Building on this success, Antoine Westermann forged a reputation far beyond France's borders, participating in numerous international openings: Fortaleza do Guincho in Cascais (Portugal) in 1998, Restaurant Café 15 in Washington DC (USA) in 2002, Le Café du Parc in Washington DC in 2006, The Vine Hotel restaurant on Madeira Island in 2007, Le Loft in Vienna in 2011, Le Coq Rico in New York in 2016.

However, the renowned entrepreneur and consultant has not abandoned France. In 2003, he set up shop on the Île Saint-Louis, founding Mon Vieil Ami. "My first vegetable bistro.I was as nervous as on a back-to-school day. In 2006, he took over the legendary Drouant, where the Prix Goncourt was awarded ."I bought the place on my own like a big man. That year, the winner Jonathan Littell came to sit at my table. "

In 2011, he finalizes his low-temperature slow-cooking technique, carried out before roasting whole birds, "thanks to the invaluable help of Bruno Goussault". In 2012, Antoine Westermann moved to the hilltop of Montmartre to return to his first love: poultry. "It's always been my favorite dish, and I wanted to share it."It's to this restaurant, Le Coq Rico (renamed Le Coq & Fils - The Poultry House in 2021), that the chef now devotes himself exclusively, having bequeathed or sold his other establishments, notably the Buerehiesel, passed on to his son Éric. Happy as a chicken in a field, he practises "theart of the high-flying single-product, basing myself on demanding sourcing focused on animal welfare and on ancient and French breeds of poultry". In this way, Antoine Westermann brings backyard poultry into the big leagues.

B.G.