Hugo ROELLINGER

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

It's not unheard of for a son to follow in his father's footsteps in our Cuisiniers de l'Année awards. Jean-Michel Lorain was crowned in 1993, having won with his father seven years earlier. As was Michel Troisgros, crowned in 2003 after sharing the award with his father Pierre in 1987.

But the Roellinger case is different. In 1994, Olivier received our supreme award without, of course, being accompanied by his son in the kitchen. The latter was only 6 years old at the time, and confined to browsing in the kitchens of Les Maisons de Bricourt, high above Cancale.

In 2008, his father Olivier decided to give up haute gastronomy and turn to his great passion, spices. Hugo then embarked on a career in the merchant navy, also working on scientific vessels. In 2012, however, he radically changed course and told his father he was going to start cooking. He went to work for family friends Pierre Gagnaire, the Bras and the Troisgros fathers and sons, who were going through a similar period of transition.

Two years later, he succeeded his father at the helm of Le Coquillage. This lover of the great outdoors, ardent defender of nature, shows himself to be the freest of cooks. Like so many good, honest people, he wants to live in the country, to work with those around him, to forge quality human relationships.

His cooking is not dictated by posturing, because he's been cultivating the right attitude for a long time, in his vegetable garden or on his fishermen's boats. At Hugo Roellinger, herbs, spices and seaweed accompany prodigies that remind us that nature deserves not to be slaughtered.