International
Sébastien MÉHAUX
Chef : 1 restaurant
While the family kitchen may not have been what triggered his vocation, Sébastien Méhaux readily admits that he learned to cook "to eat better". He trained at the Lycée Hôtelier Saint-Joseph in Montluçon, and, at the same time, found a man he calls his "second father ": Daniel Audouin, who runs a small bistro in Angoulême. For four years, in parallel with his school studies, he gained his first experience in the kitchen, and discovered the satisfaction of pleasing others.
In 1998, having just graduated from the Lycée Hôtelier, Sébastien Méhaux went to work for Pierre Orsi in Lyon, where he learned not only about "haute gastronomie", but also a certain sense of rigor. Driven by a desire to work in restaurants with a regional reputation, he worked in various establishments in the Allier region until 2003, when he joined L'Hippocampe in Vichy. There, he learned to work with seafood alongside Rémy Bourgeois: "It was a revelation".
After a few years away from the kitchen, Sébastien Méhaux felt the need to get back into the business. In 2015, he decided to buy a hotel-restaurant in the Lot region of France with his wife: "It helped me get my foot back in the door and gain confidence in myself." Confidence that turned into a need to evolve, as in 2018 he headed for Brittany, where the following year he opened L'Émoi de Mets, in Saint-Pol-de-Léon. At first, the cuisine was bistronomic. Then, once the Covid period was over, the chef decided to follow his desires and move his menu towards a gastronomic approach. Today, the man who was recently awarded 2 Gault&Millau toques (and selected for the 2023 edition of 109 - Le Sang neuf de la gastronomie française) says without batting an eyelid: "We really enjoy ourselves.".
In 2023, Sébastien Méhaux left Brittany to take over the Table d'Antoine in Vichy, where he quickly reclaimed his two toques.
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