Julie MCLEAN

With maternal grandparents who ran a bakery in Colombes, a paternal grandfather with a strong Halles background, and cousins working in the restaurant business, the career path of our 2017 winner of the Gault&MillauJeunes Talents Endowment seemed all mapped out. "And yet, I followed the classic studies, a baccalauréat ES, a college of economics, but I ended up dropping out, not really passionate about the path I'd embarked on. "

A stint at Ferrandi

The young woman took a break, and decided to go into cooking. but I absolutely wanted to go to the best school," she explains. SoI enrolled at Ferrandi, where I was refused a sandwich course, forcing my parents to pay for my three years of study. To this day, I thank them for this major financial sacrifice. "

Julie Dissais specialized in catering, working at Daloyau and Potel et Chabot - "establishments where my position as a young woman managing middle-aged men was not always very comfortable". She also worked at La Méditerranée, place de l'Odéon - "with a very respectful chef, which was not always the case in my later experiences " - and then spent a few seasons in Australia, in the restaurant business.

A seminal experience at Pantruche

Back in France,after a short stint at Saturne with Sven Chartier - "where we worked with exceptional products " - she joined Franck Baranger at Pantruche. "The working conditions were difficult, in this narrow kitchen with its fast pace. But I learned a lot there, and met Michael McLean, who was to become my husband. "

The young Franco-Irish couple were hit hard by the attacks of 2015, and were looking to settle "far from Paris, preferably in the South-West and ideally in a tourist town on a human scale". It was in Figeac, a charming town in the Lot department, that Julie andMichael found their happiness, when they bought the Petit Savoyard and turned it into La Racine et la Moelle, now one of the prettiest restaurants in the department.

Figeac, a welcoming and dynamic town

"We were lucky enough to be very well received, the people are kind and caring, and there's a great quality of life here. We wanted to be right in the center of town, so that our guests could come to us on foot.We immediately fell in love with Figeac, we feel very much at home here, and above all, we were able to quickly create a network of loyal producers who really bring us what we like. Even the fish I get here from the Atlantic auctions, with our relay in Agen, is fresher than when I used to go through Rungis. As a result, we have fish on the menu every day, and an extra suggestion. Everyone knows that we want quality products, and even local mushroom pickers bring us their treasures. When it's good stuff, of course we'll take it!

It's not all luck, of course: the couple's talents complement each other perfectly. Mike runs the dining room, advises on the wines and brings a natural, communicative empathy to the table, while Julie develops the cuisine she loves, both instinctive and technical, with a distinct personality. "Today, there are five of us in the kitchen, which makes for a great team. Figeac is in fact a very dynamic town, with a lively local fabric, city dwellers with second homes, and two major aeronautical companies." Two toques, a trophy for the Gault&Millau Tour Occitanie, 2025 is a good year for Julie Dissais and Michael McLean, and a way of proving that Figeac is indeed a gastronomic destination.