Jérôme AURELLE

Chef : 1 restaurant In Argelliers, Jérôme Aurelle perpetuates traditional family cooking in a 12th-century winegrowing farmhouse, between terroir, B&B and customer loyalty.

Presentation

Jérôme Aurelle is not the type to beg for media exposure or to flood the networks with aggressive communication. He admits it himself: he's from the old school, and has never tried to modernize his cooking too much.

Born in Millau in 1967, he was destined to take over the family farm inn. He attended the Lycée Hôtelier in Saint-Chély-d'Apcher, later attended by his son Guilhem, cooked in the non-commissioned officers' mess during his military service, and then joined Midi Papillon, the restaurant then run by Jean-Michel Papillon in Saint-Jean-du-Bruel.

" In 1990, I took over the family business with my brother in Argelliers. A few months later, a young woman joined us in the dining room for the summer season. Aurore, who later became my wife, has never left .

Traditional cuisine rooted in the land

The superb 12th-century building (erected in 1109) is a former wine farmhouse that now boasts eight rooms:" Fortunately, we work mainly as a family, with my wife Aurore of course, and with our son Guilhem, who is a trained sommelier. In our somewhat lost countryside, it's not easy to find staff any more ," laments Jérôme Aurelle, with a touch of fatalism.

But the clientele remains loyal and attached to the local cuisine, which includes foie gras de concours, traditional wild boar stew and veal sweetbreads prepared with precision.

The future of the establishment remains open: the owners are considering, in the medium term, a possible evolution of the project.