Willy-Marc ZORN
Chef : 1 restaurant Willy-Marc Zorn, chef at La Petite Auberge (2 toques) in Laon, won the Techniques d'Excellence award at the Gault&Millau Tour des Hauts-de-France 2025. Find out more about his career.
The son of a restaurateur, Willy-Marc Zorn turned to cooking at an early age. With a CAP in his pocket, he began an apprenticeship at a Relais & Châteaux in the Aisne region, then a jewel in the crown of regional gastronomy. at 18, he completed several internships in Paris, notably with Michel Rostang.i was thirsty to learn," he says, "I wanted to test myself against the big houses.
But his father's failing health called him back to Laon, to the family restaurant. "My father asked me to come back. I told him: gastronomy is my culture. He gave me carte blanche, and we quickly moved upmarket", he recalls. In 1985, La Petite Auberge took off.
A cuisine open to the world and to others
Curious and well-traveled, Willy-Marc Zorn takes advantage of encounters to broaden his horizons. in Montreal and Tokyo, he multiplied his culinary stays by organizing dinners lasting one or two months, and even hosted a meal at the Seoul embassy. in Montreal, he presented Champagne cuisine with a chef friend. All this without ever giving up on La Petite Auberge.
In 1990, in the face of the crisis, he sensed changing habits. "People no longer had the same budgets. So I created a bistro adjoining the gourmet restaurant." A dual offering that continues today: two styles of cuisine, one address.
In the 1990s, Willy-Marc Zorn founded Les Toques Gourmandes de l'Aisne to pool suppliers and organize meetings. He is also involved in Génération Cuisine et Cultures, alongside chefs such as Jacques Marcon and Laurent Petit. "Exchange, sharing, friendship: these are the foundations of our profession", he asserts.
Still based in Laon, he perpetuates this philosophy in his two establishments: simple, sincere cuisine, whether gastronomic or bistro-style, but always focused on pleasure and conviviality, now awarded a Techniques d'Excellence prize by Gault&Millau.
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