International
Thomas PARNAUD
Chef : 1 restaurant
"When I was 7, my father and I made an apple cake for Mother's Day.I realized that you could give pleasure through baking and cooking. It's something that has never left me," confides Thomas Parnaud. So, in 2006, he embarked on a culinary course in Perpignan, finishing top of his class. As soon as he finished his studies, he was hired in Leucate (Aude) to work alone in the kitchens of two restaurants: L'Étage Café, for lunch, and Bodega el Flamingo, for dinner.
In 2012, after working in Narbonne, Claude Giraud offered him the position of second-in-command."I didn't think about it for long!"he recalls. His mentor soon afterwards sent him to Paris, to Joël Robuchon's Atelier. "I arrived as a commis and, after six months, I became head of the fish section."
The following year, he joined Épicure, the restaurant at the Bristol Paris, to work with Éric Frechon. The young chef even takes advantage of his breaks to do a few extras at the Pavillon Ledoyen. 2015 was also a busy year: he officiated as chef de partie at Petit Pergolèse, Paris, then at Eden Rock, Saint-Barthélemy, before returning to the Giraud family and son, Lionel. "It was like coming full circle," says Thomas Parnaud.
Two years later, he left for Romania as a consultant for La Cave de Bucarest, in decline. "I said to myself, 'Why not?"His gamble paid off, as he was crowned Young Talent that year by the Romanian edition of Gault&Millau. The establishment even became the 14th best restaurant in the country!
After a successful challenge, the young chef returned to France, where he settled at the Hotel Le Grand Monarque in Chartres. To top it all off, Gault&Millau named him Grand de Demain Grand-Ouest 2019, and immediately awarded him 2 toques, followed by a 3rd the following year.
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