Henri AMESTOY

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

It was "the smells, the farm, the wood-burning stove, the simmering dishes" of the family home that led Henri Amestoy to the Biarritz hotel school in the late 1980s. His professional career began in Bidart, before taking him to Le Cabanon in Magescq (Landes). Two years later, the young Basque joined the Bon Coin du Lac in Mimizan, before moving on to the Château de Bagnols in the Beaujolais region, and the Carlton in Cannes.

Driven by the idea that leaving is always a learning experience, he opened his first business in 2000 with sommelier Laurent Derhé: L'Auberge du Ru, in Frontonas (Isère). After a few years, however, Henri Amestoy realized that he really missed the Basque country". In 2009, he launched La Ferme Gourmande, in Ossès (Pyrénées-Atlantiques), where he spent seven years and where Gault&Millau crowned him Jeune Talent 2011.

In 2016, he decided to settle with his wife in Irissarry, where he opened Art'Zain. Henri Amestoy knows this well: "I'm spoiled with all the small producers I have around me," so it's quite natural that his cuisine today is built around the seasons, a certain respect for nature, and a key value: "Staying humble".

T. L.