International
Naoëlle D'HAINAUT
Chef : 1 restaurant
The granddaughter of a butcher, Naoëlle d'Hainaut discovered gastronomy through Cyril Lignac's "Oui chef! With her sights set on interior design, Naoëlle found the same artistic dimension. She took her first steps in two traditional restaurants in her region, then at Alain Montigny's Dolce in Chantilly. " I realized that this profession attracted me and that I was going to work in prestigious establishments," she recalls.
With her diploma in hand, she joined the brigade of chef Éric Frechon (4 toques) at Épicure, the restaurant of the Parisian palace Le Bristol. " The chef told me there was only room for me in room service, but that wasn't at all what I wanted to do! So he said to me, 'I can see you've got the temperament, so I'll offer you two months' room service, and then I'll make a commitment that you'll go to the gastro." A promise made, a promise kept, and she stayed there for ten years, climbing the ranks from commis to sous-chef.
In 2013, the young chef won season 4 of "Top Chef" against Florent Ladeyn. Unlike some of the candidates, she didn't open her own restaurant straight away. Instead, she accepted her first position as chef in the gourmet restaurant of the Vente-privee.com brand. I absolutely had to do it," she says, "because Chef Frechon's cuisine had become ingrained in me. It allowed me to find myself culinarily," she explains. It wasn't until 2017 that Naoëlle d'Hainaut opened her restaurant L'Or Q'Idée, in Pontoise. Gault&Millau awarded her 14/20 (2 toques) in the first season, then 15/20 (3 toques) in 2023. The chef is also a consultant for the Parisian brasserie Ernest at La Samaritaine, and will soon be opening a wine and tapas cellar.
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