Jean-Claude CAHAGNET

Chef : Auberge des Saints-Pères From the Chevreuse Valley to Aulnay-sous-Bois, Jean-Claude Cahagnet turned a “chance” career path into a career spanning more than 40 years.

Presentation

Born in 1965 in Paris, Jean-Claude Cahagnet spent more than twenty years in the Chevreuse Valley. As a child, nothing suggested he would become a chef: “But paradoxically, I used to watch Raymond Oliver’s shows all the time, and I’d cut out recipes from *Modes & Travaux *,” he recalls. At school, he was told he’d be better suited for a manual trade than an intellectual one. So it was “by chance” that he turned to cooking.

Jean-Pierre Philippe, the Mentor

Fortunately, his mother knew a Maître Cuisinier de France, Jean-Pierre Philippe, who took him on as an apprentice during the summer of 1981: “He’s my mentor, my spiritual father,” he confides. During this brief experience, Jean-Claude Cahagnet was struck not only by the chef’s charisma but also by his ability to bring people together around a simple concept: sharing. That same year, the young man began culinary training at La Toque Blanche in Les Mesnuls (Yvelines), under Jean-Pierre Philippe. He attended the CFA vocational school in Versailles, then the Tecomah hospitality school in Jouy-en-Josas: “A great school, with a very human touch.”

From Versailles to Japan: A Journey of Training

Two years later, he qualified for the “Best Apprentice in France” competition. In 1984, he joined Gérard Vié’s kitchen in Versailles. In 1986, he returned to La Toque Blanche before flying to Japan for two months. There he gave cooking demonstrations, and upon his return to France, he joined Jean-Pierre Cario’s kitchen staff, where he became sous-chef at La Corbeille.

The Turning Point: André Gamon

After a few different stints in the early 1990s, Jean-Claude Cahagnet became chef at the Relais des Gardes in Meudon (Hauts-de-Seine). He spent three and a half years there before returning to the Chevreuse Valley as chef at the Auberge Saint-Pierre. He then took the helm at Les Chanteraines in Villeneuve-la-Garenne (Hauts-de-Seine) until 1997, when he met André Gamon, then chef at Le Coq de la Maison Blanche in Saint-Ouen (Seine-Saint-Denis): “That was the turning point .”

The Opening of the Auberge des Saints Pères

As the story goes, André Gamon organized his retirement celebration at the restaurant where Jean-Claude Cahagnet was working. At the end of the meal, he went into the kitchen and advised the chef to set up shop there. Two months later, the Auberge des Saints-Pères opened its doors in Aulnay-sous-Bois (Seine-Saint-Denis). In the early 2000s, Jean-Claude Cahagnet was awarded the title of Maître Cuisinier de France.

In 2022, he shifted his focus toward “casual bistronomy ,” while preserving his restaurant’s original culinary DNA and a sincere passion—a quality that seems to be a core value in his profession.