Laurent SUEUR

Chef de service : 1 restaurant After many formative experiences, Laurent Sueur seems to have hospitality in his veins. Today, he is one of the pillars of L'Escargot, in Valenciennes.

Presentation

Laurent Sueur, who describes himself as "100% Valenciennes", begins by talking about his vocation, evoking his grandmother, a lover of cafés and restaurants: " I've always been in that environment thanks to her". At the end of ninth grade, he didn't really know what discipline to choose. But one day, on his way home from a visit to the Pommery cellars, he came across an advertisement for an apprentice chef. He applied with his mother, but asked for a place in the dining room. The year was 1986, and Laurent Sueur began his career.

After his apprenticeship, he was hired at Les Arcades in Valenciennes. In 1990, he became head waiter at Le Boccaccio in Nice, before returning to his home town. In 1992, he returned to Les Arcades, before working in a nightclub, L'Opéra. In 1999, still in Valenciennes, he was head waiter at Brasserie Arthur, then at La Meida, an oriental restaurant opening in Lille. He then seized the opportunity to manage the Royal Colisée Valenciennes, a cabaret run by his former boss, before joining, in 2006, the Clos de la Perrière, in Sebourg, then La Table de Christophe, in Valenciennes.

In 2008, he was hired as head waiter at La Grignotière, Raismes. With this more gastronomic experience in his pocket, in 2016 he joined owner Hugues Teneur, and took charge of the dining room at L'Escargot, in Valenciennes. When he talks about his work, Laurent Sueur speaks first and foremost of customer happiness, a goal he constantly strives for from the moment the customer enters the dining room. All of this is driven by "empathy, love, culinary and oenological knowledge". All qualities rewarded by the Accueil Hauts-de-France 2023 trophy.

T. L.