Gilbert OKOIN

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

Originally from Côte d'Ivoire, Gilbert Okoin was predestined to become a film director : "I was an au pair in Germany, but I failed my language test. So I wasn't able to follow the university course I'd originally wanted."

In the mid-2000s, he settled in Bordeaux with Jean Ramet, who took him under his wing: "I started out as a dishwasher, then Jean Ramet passed on his passion to me. He hired me as a pastry chef, and showed me that a simple carrot could convey an emotion. "Two years later, he applied to Michel Trama, who gave him a place in his kitchen at L'Aubergade, in Puymirol (Lot-et-Garonne): "I discovered haute gastronomy there. After a spell with Nicolas Frion in Bordeaux, he joined Rémy Giraud's brigade at Les Hauts de Loire, in Veuzain-sur-Loire (Loir-et-Cher). But it was in Luxembourg, at By Maurice, that the young man took up his first position as chef, in 2013.

He eventually missed the Bordeaux region. He returned in 2015 to open the Bistrot des Grands Hommes. Two years later, he decided to launch his own restaurant, Porte Quinze, near Saint-Pierre church. "I called it that because we're at 15 rue Émile-Duployé. My son didn't want me to call it Okoin, he saw it as a punishment." Gilbert Okoin's cuisine focuses on seasonal produce, with a touch of acidity instilled in him by his mentor, Michel Trama. Gault&Millau has awarded him 2 toques since 2022.

B. G.