Maxime ARDIN

In the Massif des Bauges nature park, young chef Maxime Ardin's L'Abîme serves up local, plant-based cuisine, and has been awarded 2 toques.

Presentation

He wasn't destined for the kitchen, but an internship with chef Claude Bellang "gave himthe trigger"! With his general baccalaureate in hand, Maxime Ardin enrolled at the CFA in Groisy, obtaining a CAP and then a BP. After a spell with Philippe Augé, he joined Régis and Jacques Marcon's prestigious, multi-award-winning restaurant in Saint-Bonnet-le-Froid. Starting out as a commis, he quickly became chef de partie. It was a particularly enriching and memorable experience: "I learned a lot, especially about working with mushrooms, herbs and sauces. I was able toimmerse myself in the philosophy of both chefs, and appreciate their team leadership."

After a year spent traveling, Maxime Ardin returned to Annecy, where he managed the MAPP restaurants for three years. On the strength of his experience, the chef then looked to open his own address, and eventually found the rare gem in Gruffy (near Annecy), "a magical tourist spot that I've known since childhood and where I used to go for ice cream!"

With the help of the town council and the Gault&Millau Jeunes Talents grant, he took over L'Auberge du Pont de l'Abîme, which had been neglected for ten years, and renamed it Abîme. The address opened in summer 2022, with a "somewhat improvised" cuisine and terrace service only. After some refurbishment, the inn opened for good in April 2023, with 4 guest rooms in addition to the restaurant.

The chef offers a unique menu that evolves with the seasons and his inspiration. "I give myself a lot of freedom in the kitchen, changing a dish on the menu every week," he says. His cuisine is resolutely rooted in the terroir. "We're lucky enough to be in the Bauges region, which is a goldmine in terms of produce. I'm surrounded by organic market gardeners, and 80% of the vegetables I work with come from them. 95% of the food I cook was produced less than 100 km away."Gault&Millau included him in the 2024 edition of 109 - Le Sang neuf de la gastronomie française, and immediately awarded him the attractive mark of 13/20. His ambitions? In the medium term, "toexpand, to have more people in the kitchen, while remaining on a human scale".

B. V.-L.