Philippe MILLE

Chef : Arbane A Meilleur Ouvrier de France from the Sarthe, Philippe Mille opened Arbane (4 toques) in Reims in spring 2024, after fifteen years at Les Crayères. An ode to the Champagne terroir.

Presentation

It is rare for a chef’s first head chef position to be at a house as prestigious as Les Crayères. When he joined the Gardinier family’s famous Champagne estate in 2009, Philippe Mille, grandson of farmers from the Sarthe with fond memories of his grandmother’s pot-au-feu, was just 35 and already had a solid track record.

From L’Aubergade to Le Meurice, the school of classicism

He began at L’Aubergade with Jean Bordier, who taught him the foundations of classic cuisine. He continued in Paris at Drouant, Lasserre and Le Pré Catelan alongside Frédéric Anton, then joined Michel Roth’s team at the Ritz. But it was with Yannick Alléno, at Le Scribe and then Le Meurice, that he truly forged his personality, during the seven years he spent as second to our future 2015 Chef of the Year. In 2011, he earned the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France.

At Arbane, Champagne on the plate

For fifteen years at Le Parc Les Crayères, he became an ambassador for Champagne and its producers. In spring 2024, he opened his own house, Arbane (4 toques), in an 1874 mansion in central Reims, a former bank whose safes now hold the wines. The name refers to an almost forgotten Champagne grape variety, and the cuisine explores the region’s seven grape varieties, cooking over vine cuttings and fine seafood, around a chalk counter facing the open kitchen. In the dining room, Mélanie Arnould oversees the welcome, while sommelier Valentin Gallais highlights the new expressions of the Champagne vineyards.