Charles et Mi-Ra THUILLANT

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

Nothing predestined Charles Thuillant and his wife, Mi-Ra Kim, for the restaurant business. He was a sales manager in transport and logistics in Paris, she was a traditional make-up artist in Seoul, Korea. At the age of 28, they didn't yet know each other, but both decided to go into the business.

It was during a cooking class with William Ledeuil at Ze Kitchen Galerie in Paris that Charles discovered his calling. "That was the catalyst," he recalls. His goal: to come and work here. He met the challenge, and as soon as he had his CAP from the Ferrandi school in his pocket, he landed a place there. It was there that he met Mi-Ra, herself a recent graduate of Le Cordon Bleu.

In 2005, they both joined Joël Robuchon's team, he at La Table, she at L'Atelier. Charles then moved on to L'Épi Dupin and Mi-Ra to Châteaubriand.

A few years later, they moved to Normandy, the region where Charles spent his childhood vacations. There, they found the perfect restaurant, L'Essentiel, in downtown Deauville. In 2010, the chefs were awarded the Gault&Millau Jeune Talent trophy. In 2013, L'Essentiel even made it into the Yellow Guide's "500 indispensable restaurants".

But the establishment was difficult to manage. So they set themselves a wager: renew everything or stop. "We built today's L'Essentiel, which is more modern and ergonomic, and that enabled us to take off completely," he explains. In 2022, they received the Cuisine de la Mer trophy from the Gault&Millau Tour Normandie.

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