Éric PROWALSKI

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

Although Éric Prowalski has been passionate about cooking since he was a child, it was his mother's health that led him down this path. "She was very ill. So, when she came back from the nursing home, we'd cook together when she was entertaining. "

He then enrolled at the Lycée Hôtelier, and completed his work-study diploma with Jean-Marie Amat in Bordeaux. But his passion for handball took him more often to the court than to the kitchen. "I had 78% absenteeism, but I passed my bac!"he confides. Even during his military service, he continued to play, this time in the military championship and in National 3.

In 2000, he joined Philippe Etchebest's brigade at Château Grand Barrail in Saint-Émilion. He then moved to Paris to work at the Élysées du Vernet bakery, under Alain Solivérès. "After nine months, I was fed up with typing bread. I went to see the chef and told him I wanted to cook."After a stint in the pastry shop, he took his place behind the stove. "Theintensity of the work was hard, but it thrilled me. "He was then sent to Le Taillevent, to make the transition from Michel Del Burgo to Alain Solivérès. He stayed for eight years, rising from first chef de partie to executive chef.

In 2011, after opening the La Corniche restaurant in Arcachon, he became head chef at the Les Trésoms hotel in Annecy. Gault&Milleu quickly awarded him 2 toques, followed by a 3rd in 2017. In 2018, he made a decisive encounter with Stéphane Tourreau, world vice-champion in freediving. "We exchanged ideas and he introduced me to mindfulness and introspection. Today, I meditate three or four times a day. It's taught me that you can work in the restaurant business and still be happy and fulfilled."This revolution is felt as much in his management as in his dishes. The following year, Gault&Millau awarded him the Cuisine de la Mer, des Lacs et des Rivières trophy for the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

I.B.

Biography & Awards

1976 Naissance à Arcachon

2000 Chef de partie tournant auprès de Philippe Etchebest, au Château Grand Barrail, à Saint-Émilion

2002 Boulanger, puis pâtissier et enfin cuisinier aux Élysées du Vernet, à Paris, sous Alain Solivérès

2003 De premier chef de partie à chef exécutif d’Alain Solivérès, au Taillevent, à Paris

2011 Chef de La Rotonde – Les Trésoms, à Annecy

2019 Trophée Cuisine de la Mer, des Lacs et des Rivières