Jérôme GOURMELEN

Chef : 2 restaurants Pastry Chef : 2 restaurants Now alone at the helm of Ar Men Du in Névez, Jérôme Gourmelen demonstrates his creativity from starter to dessert.

Presentation

The chef of the Ar Men Du restaurant in Névez is viscerally attached to the Brittany where he grew up (he was born in Pont-l'Abbé and raised in Penmarc'h) and where he has spent most of his professional life. "My mother was a schoolteacher and my father ran a butcher's shop and a small working-class restaurant. I loved cooking and watching my father, but until I was a teenager, I was really attracted to the restaurant business," Jérôme Gourmelen recalls.

A memorable experience with Jean-Paul Abadie

However, after a few months at the Lycée Hôtelier in Trégunc, one of his teachers convinced him to leave the dining room and move behind the stove. "I still managed to get my vocational baccalaureate in service, while at the same time obtaining a BEP (vocational diploma in cooking) as an independent candidate. After a few short experiences, I joined Jean-Paul Abadie's kitchens at L'Amphitryon as an apprentice pastry chef. It was an unforgettable experience working with his pastry chef Nicolas Multon, who really instilled in me a love of pastry-making."

Ar Men Du chef ten years on

After two years at the Hôtel du Castellet, where Christophe Bacquié had just arrived, the young man returned to his native land with his wife Laure, whom he had met at the Lycée Hôtelier. He joined Ar Men Du, in Névez. "I immediately hit it off with the owner, Pierre-Yves Roué. I first worked alongside chef Patrick Le Guen, then Philippe Emmanuelli, before accepting the position of chef in 2023. I' m passionate about cooking and pastry-making, and I'm always trying to innovate." Proof of his talent, Gault&Millau has maintained the establishment's 3 toques.

Asparagus and radish for dessert

His latest sweet creations? A combination of asparagus, honey, a local IPA beer and kalamansi, and a surprisingly gourmet marriage of pink radish, fromage blanc, yuzu and wasabi. Her creativity earned her the Pâtissier trophy for Brittany in 2024.