Éric CANINO

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

Éric Canino is precocious: he got his first job at the age of 13. "I wanted to buy a motorcycle, so I worked as a dishwasher in a friend's pizzeria. In the end, he was the one who had an accident. There wasno one left in the kitchen, so I volunteered."The man who wasn't destined for the restaurant trade went on to attend hotel management school, before joining La Mangeoire in Barcelonnette (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence) as a commis. "Everything was homemade, from pizzas to foie gras. It was semi-gastro with a traditional mix."

In 1987, he joined the Villa Borghèse brigade in Gréoux-les-Bains (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence). He left two years later as chef de partie to take up the position of second at L'Orangeraie, a semi-gastronomic restaurant near Aix-en-Provence. Here, too, he climbed the ladder to become chef at just 22.

Éric Canino handed in his apron in 1993 and worked as a caterer at La Belle Époque, in Volx (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence), for eight years. "It was creative, I had fun sculpting and making desserts," he recalls. Then a friend told him that Michel Guérard was looking for a chef for his restaurant in Gréoux-les-Bains. "I went to the interview and became chef at Mas de la Crémaillère. Lean cuisine was easy for me, because I was someone from the South, we don't use butter or cream."

In 2009, he left the pope of wellness cuisine to export the concept to La Réserve Ramatuelle (Var),"but in my own way", stresses the self-taught chef. Proof of the success of his project, the chef was awarded 2 Gault&Millau toques in 2016, followed by a 3rd in 2019.

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