Bernard BORDARIES

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

Bernard Bordaries began his career at the age of 17, after one of his friends extolled the benefits of the restaurant business. He did his apprenticeship at the hotel-restaurant Les Trois Pigeons, in Montauban. "The chef told me 'if you pass your exam, I'll send you to the capital'."As promised, the young commis joined the kitchens of Maxim's, where he worked under Alex Humbert. "From a small provincial house to Maxim's, that was a big step!"he jokes.

After his military service, Bernard Bordaries joined the Carlton in Cannes, where he stayed for three years. There, he rose through the ranks, from commis to chef de partie. In the 1970s, he moved on to a series of seasons. He began at La Réserve de Beaulieu, then Le Mont d'Arbois, in Megève, before moving on to L'Oasis, in Mandelieu-la-Napoule, the hotel-restaurant Le Cap, in Antibes, and La Métropole, in Monte-Carlo. In 1980, the chef became owner of Le Séville in Toulouse, where he worked for five years. He then joined the kitchens of La Grande Cascade in Paris. That same year, he was a finalist for the Prix Pierre-Taittinger.

Then chef at the Hôtel d'Azimont, in the suburbs of Toulouse, he was awarded 2 toques. "Gault&Millau helped me, and then the other guides followed. It was an important moment in my career", he recalls. Three years later, he left the establishment for L'Aigle Noir, in Fontainebleau. "In 1991, a headhunter called me and I went to Los Angeles to promote French cuisine in the Ritz-Carlton."Following this American experience, he became chef at the Pavillon Sévigné, in the heart of the Pyrenees.

After a few years as a culinary consultant, Bernard Bordaries became chef and owner of Clos Monteils, a former presbytery dating from the end of the 18th century, in 1999. Already awarded 3 toques, the chef recently won the Tradition d'Aujourd'hui Occitanie 2022 trophy.

I.B.