Manon GRASSET

Chef : 1 restaurant A disciple of Alain Ducasse, chef Manon Grasset opened the Ama restaurant with her partner Adrien Layssac, featuring Basque products.

Presentation

"I've always had a taste for good food, thanks in particular to my grandfather, who had a passion for gastronomy", says Manon Grasset. With her literary baccalaureate in hand, the young woman changed direction and obtained a BTS in hotel and restaurant management. After gaining experience at La Bastide de Moustiers, she joined the Alain Ducasse group at Hôtel de Paris (Monaco) and Hostellerie de l'Abbaye de La Celle, in Provence.

Manon Grasset then joined l'Ostape, the "country inn" of the pope of French cuisine in the Basque country. She stayed there for six years, rising from chef de partie to sous-chef, then chef. A fine career for the young woman who hasn't always had it easy in the kitchen. "It'ssometimes complicated to gain acceptance, but things are moving in the right direction."

She launched her own business in 2022 with her husband Adrien Layssac, whom she had met at La Bastide de Moustiers. They opened Ama in Combo-les-Bains. Their cuisine, "which bears the imprint of Alain Ducasse", is based on local products, such as duck foie gras, which she has imagined with a Thai broth, a nod to the Asian travels that inspire the young couple in this cuisine with Basque and Mediterranean connotations. Proof of their talent, Gault&Millau included them in the 2024 edition of 109 - Le Sang neuf de la gastronomie française.

While the chef handles both savory and sweet dishes, she has a predilection for desserts. "What attracts me to pastry-making is its rigor and precision. It's a different approach to cooking, where you can more easily rectify a recipe." She always starts with a seasonal product and thinks about possible combinations, drawing inspiration from cookery books and encounters. "I like to create surprises. At first, I was quite classic, and gradually, I let go of the bridles. Like, for example, with this chocolate/ juniper berry/tarragon dessert that I would never have dared make a few years ago."

Manon Grasset is driven by a desire to renew and evolve, and believes that she can always learn from her chefs as much as from her commis chefs, producers and customers, who all offer constructive advice."In our profession, open-mindedness is fundamental."

B. V.-L.