Tony LAURENT-PERROT

Chef : 1 restaurant Fundamentally independent and passionate, chef Tony Laurent-Perrot of Plūm, Châteauroux, is crowned Jeune Talent de la région 2024.

Presentation

Born in Châteauroux in 1994, Tony Laurent-Perrot didn't grow up in a family of restaurateurs. "I wasn't a bad pupil at school, but I was, and still am, a great dreamer, more attracted to creative activities than to studies. My grandmother loves to cook, but his parents were the first to be surprised when he told them of his intentions.

On leaving secondary school, he set up a three-year apprenticeship at the Lycée Professionnel in Argenton-sur-Creuse, taking classes one after the other and doing work experience during the school vacations. "My first experience was at La Marmite restaurant in Le Dorat, not far from Limoges. I then joined the kitchens of Château d'Artigny, then Domaine de la Tortinière, which convinced me that this style of catering wasn't for me."

Not yet 20 and already a chef

Naturally independent, Tony Laurent-Perrot landed his first job as a chef at the Brasserie des Halles in Châteauroux. He was 19 at the time, an age when many are still commis. "It's true that I'd never worked alongside great chefs. I was immediately thrown into the deep end. That's probably a little regretful at times, but I think it's an advantage for me. I'm free to create, without blinkers, without being influenced by any dogma. And that suits me just fine."

Opening Plūm at 29

After settling in Buzançais, then La Rochelle, Tony Laurent-Perrot returns home in 2023 to open his own restaurant, Plūm, in place of a former cheese shop. "My cuisine has no borders. It's world cuisine, revisited in my own way. It's an offer that didn't exist in Châteauroux and the clientele follows me, no doubt attracted by the discovery."

As he readily admits, Tony Laurent-Perrot has always liked to stand out from the crowd. This culinary positioning, inspired by a restaurant in La Rochelle, is 100% his own. His talent has earned him the Jeune Talent Centre-Val de Loire Gault&Millau 2024 trophy.