Hervé DOS SANTOS

Chef : 1 restaurant Since 2008, chef Hervé Dos Santos has been combining pleasure and savoir-faire at the Bistro d'Hervé in Agde.

Presentation

"I'm originally from the Basque country, where people like to enjoy a good meal with friends, and thatmotivated meto take up cooking," says Hervé Dos Santos, who trained at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines hotel school. He obtained his CAP, BEP, BTH and finally his BTS in 1990. To gain his first experience, the young clerk returned home, and set up atLa Table des Frères Ibarboure, in Bidart. " My cousin, who ran Le Corsaire restaurant in Mont-de-Marsan, referred mein 1991 toGabriel Biscay, chef at Lapérouse in Paris, with whom I'm still in contact. Like a mentor, hehelpedmemake the right decisions", notably by placing him inLouis Grondard's brigade at Drouant.

On the strength of these experiences, and thanks to a meeting with Christian Guignard, founder of Hippopotamus, Hervé Dos Santos was appointed director of kitchens at Euro-Toques in 1994. He went on to become associate chef at L'Appart,in Paris and Istanbul, and at Spicy, in Paris 8, which is more dedicated to world cuisine.

Having two young children, Hervé Dos Santos and his wife - whom he met at the age of 14 and with whom he has worked at L'Appart since 1995 - decided to raise them inthe countryside. In 2001, they founded La Bastide Cabezac, in Bize-Minervois, on the wine route. They sold it in 2007 to create Le Bistro d'Hervé in Agde in 2008 (and its Côté Plage, from 2010 to 2015). "From now on, we'll beadapting to our customers and their lifestyles, always giving priority to the short circuit."

B. G.