Irwin DURAND

Presentation

"My grandfather was a pastry chef. I was lucky enough, on my way home from school, to be able to taste his galettes, which he decorated with beautiful designs." Irwin Durand had been aware of gastronomy from an early age, and fell in love with the restaurant business during an internship at secondary school. He decided to make it his career. After a classical training course, he started at Le Saint-Paul, in Saint-Paul-de-Vence, in 2007. Working alongside Ludovic Puzenat, he was introduced to the world of gourmet cooking.

To learn about different regional techniques, Irwin Durand embarked on a tour of France's most renowned addresses: "You don't cook the same way on the Mediterranean, in Burgundy or in Paris."His first stop was L'Oustau de Baumanière in Les Baux-de-Provence, followed by Le Strato in Courchevel, both run by Sylvestre Wahid at the time.

"Ludovic Puzenat had told me that Paris was the capital of gastronomy, so I couldn't miss out". He joined the brigade at Atelier Robuchon, in the Saint-Germain district, before moving to Burgundy to join the team at Relais Bernard Loiseau, in Saulieu. On the strength of these experiences, he returned to Paris in 2015 to open Le Bien Aimé as chef : "For all that, I felt I hadn't finished my training. "

After a stint with Yannick Alléno at Pavillon Ledoyen, he took charge of the Lebanese-French restaurant Alan Geaam when it opened in 2017. " Less than two months later, Gault&Millau awarded him a 15.5/20 rating. At the end of 2018, Guy Savoy himself contacted him to offer him a position as sous-chef in his La Monnaie de Paris restaurant: "As I was his only sous-chef to win a Guide Jaune, Jeune Talent award in 2017, he suggested I bring a burst of energy to the Le Chiberta restaurant, located near the Arc de Triomphe." In his own way, Irwin Durand revisits classics such as tête de veau, pied de cochon and millefeuille.

B.G.