Nicolas TISSIER

Chef : 2 restaurants

Presentation

With a father who was a restaurateur, it was quite obvious for Nicolas Tissier to follow the same profession. " I didn't really click, it was just logical", he confirms. So he set off to train at the CFA Médéric in Paris, while learning the trade from Christophe Pacheco at his restaurant Aux Armes de France in Corbeil. "My training comes from these two years of apprenticeship," asserts Nicolas Tissier.

In 2006, after six months at the Pavillon Ledoyen, he moved to Honfleur to join Patrick Ogheard's La Ferme Saint-Siméon. A year after his arrival, his chef sent him to the Hôtel de Crillon in Paris. "At the time, all I could think about was Jean-François Piège. He's a genius, and I was really inspired by what I learned from him." He followed the chef when he decided to open the Thoumieux brasserie. "After six months, I was promoted to chef de partie in the cooking department. A year after I arrived, I was second-in-command at the age of 21," he recalls.

In 2014, he took over the family restaurant, La Vieille Auberge, to help his recently operated father. A year later, he returned to Paris to take charge of the kitchens at Comptoirs du Médoc. Then, in 2017, he flew to Saint-Barthélemy to become head chef at Hôtel Christopher. With a 23-strong team to manage, Hurricane Irma and a fire in the main building, the five years he spent there were not easy, although they were formative. "It was the experience that made me grow the most as a chef," he says today.

After this powerful experience, he returned to the family home. Dishwashing, front-of-house service, cook... He went through all the positions, until his parents suggested, in 2022, that he take over the kitchens. "I said 'OK, but I'll do it my way'". Gone are the fixed menus, the formula has been totally changed: until the last moment, the customer doesn't know what he's going to eat. "This means I can't rest on my laurels, and I can keep on creating," enthuses Nicolas Tissier.

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