Nicolas CONRAUX
Chef : 1 restaurant
"It was life that got me into the kitchen". At first, Nicolas Conraux was destined for the hotel business, "I like cooking, I'm a gourmet, but the atmosphere in the kitchens didn't suit me. Later, with experience, I realized that things could be done simply, without shouting or unnecessary pressure".
Nicolas Conraux takes his time. In 1999, he joined La Butte, in Plouider, on the dining room side. "The restaurant is called La Butte because we're located at the top of a hill overlooking Goulven Bay. It was there that he met Solène, the young daughter of the house, who was to become his wife. The restaurant was founded in 1952 by his grandmother, who had grown tired of being a peasant farmer, and started her own restaurant business.
In 2007, he and his wife bought the house from his parents-in-law. With no choice but to train in the restaurant business, he became involved in all aspects of the kitchen, before taking over the reins seven years later. Unlike many of his colleagues, the young chef was not influenced by anyone, but rather built his career on his own - a guarantee of great creative freedom. But Nicolas Conraux has always kept his feet on the ground: "In thebeginning, I had no technique, so I wanted to sublimate the product in the simplest way possible.This has stayed with me, even though I now have more technique".
Now totally cut off from industrial food, Nicolas Conraux enjoys inventing tricks to cook with only what's around him, collaborating as much as possible with local market gardeners and fishermen.Forexample, we offer ice creams made with sugar extracted from buckwheat fermentation".
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