Noël BÉRARD

Chef : La Bastide Recently named a "Meilleur Ouvrier de France," Noël Bérard is at the helm of La Bastide (3 toques), a Provençal haute cuisine restaurant in the Luberon region, in Bonnieux, where he serves local, seasonal cuisine.

Presentation

Cooking wasn’t a given, but Noël Bérard has always enjoyed preparing meals. In high school, he decided to forgo the general baccalaureate and switch to a vocational baccalaureate. Upon embarking on his culinary career, he quickly set his sights on excellence and trained at the Tecomah culinary school. He spent some time in the Senate’s kitchens before joining Le Jardin Les Crayères (2 toques) in Reims. Over the course of three years working alongside Philippe Mille—winner of the 2009 Bocuse d’Or Bronze and 2011 Meilleur Ouvrier de France—he rose from commis to rotating section chef.

Five Years in Hong Kong

Then he felt the urge to learn English. Hong Kong seemed like a good option: he joined the kitchen at Amber, at the Mandarin Oriental, working alongside Chef Maxime Gilbert. After two years, the two Frenchmen became executive chef and head chef at a new restaurant, Écriture. Five years after settling in Hong Kong, Noël Bérard decided to return to France with new techniques and a broader perspective.

He headed south, to the region where he used to spend his vacations as a young man. For one summer, he worked in the kitchen at Le Petit Nice (4 toques) in Marseille. Then, as his career has always been shaped by opportunities, he joined Édouard Loubet at La Bastide (3 toques) in Bonnieux. At the end of the season, the chef announced that he was putting his Luberon restaurant up for sale. This opened up a new opportunity for Noël Bérard. After a month of handover and a summer of training, he found himself at the helm of the Baumier Group’s restaurant.

Simple cuisine with emotion

The chef continues to shape the restaurant’s culinary identity, “striving to make it as authentic as possible, as consistent as possible with the local region, using locally sourced ingredients—keeping the presentation on the plate as simple as possible, yet imbued with deep meaning and emotion.”

He now describes himself as “like most chefs, a product of the professionals who have influenced us along our journey.” Among them are Philippe Mille, Maxime Gilbert, and Édouard Loubet. Noël Bérard continues to carry on Loubet’s culinary legacy through the techniques Loubet passed on to him, such as foraging for and preparing local herbs and regional produce. “I enjoy cooking Sisteron lamb, a lovely red mullet, a beautiful Mediterranean peach…” With each season, these signature ingredients find their way onto La Bastide’s menu.