It enters the history of French gastronomy.
At 35, Fabien Ferré, now alone at the helm of the Table du Castellet in the Var, won three stars on Monday March 18, an extremely rare feat which makes him the youngest chef at this level.
This is only the third time in thirty years.
The last to achieve gold, without going through silver and bronze, is Arnaud Donckele in Paris in 2022 for the restaurant of the Cheval Blanc Paris hotel, a jewel of the LVMH group.
La Table du Castellet is also backed by a very luxurious hotel, a five-star hotel between Toulon and Marseille, which until 2022 was the Provençal kingdom of chef Christophe Bacquié, three stars in 2018. Currently closed, the restaurant is due to reopen on the 5th. april.
“I'm not good at speeches, a little more in cooking,” declared Fabien Ferré, coming to collect his reward.
“I arrived at Castellet 11 years ago. Would I have ever imagined being on this stage with the greatest reward?”
"On the plates, Provence and its marine and plant terroir are celebrated with creative dishes perfectly executed and enhanced with concentrated, deep and punchy sauces, juices and emulsions - like this coral velvet with strawberry vinegar which highlights a delicious langoustine with rhubarb", specifies the Michelin press release.
Rhubarb langoustine from chef Fabien Ferré.
© Stéphane Riss, the “le castellet” table
No women at the top of the list
The other big winner this year is the restaurant Le Gabriel by Jérôme Banctel in Paris, previously two stars, also obtained a 3rd macaron.
These two new three stars, compared to one last year, bring the number of triple-starred addresses in France to 30, after the demotion two weeks ago of the Meilleur family restaurant, La Bouitte, in Savoie.
Fabien Ferré and Jérôme Banctel succeed Alexandre Couillon, chef of the La Marine restaurant in Noirmoutier, the only triple-starred restaurant in 2023.
Also read: Akrame Benallal, starred chef: “The Olympics are like cooking, a marathon”
The 2024 vintage also includes eight new two-star restaurants, including that of Christophe Cussac at Les Ambassadeurs at the Metropole hotel in Monaco and at the Eiffel Tower, chef Frédéric Anton and his second-in-command clinch two stars for the first time for the legendary Jules Verne .
No woman is at the top of the list.
“Ladies, you have been everywhere, for a long time and collectively and we don’t say it enough,” recognized Gwendall Poullennec, the guide’s boss during the ceremony bringing together the biggest names in gastronomy.
Tribute to Serge Vieira
A record number of 52 new restaurants obtained a first badge, with a clear concentration in Paris, the south-east, the south-west and the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.
Among them, the forty-something Eugénie Beziat, who won a first star for Espadon, her restaurant at the Ritz with innovative African touches, and who told AFP she wanted to "keep her head on her shoulders".
In total, the Michelin Guide's selection of restaurants now recommends 639 starred restaurants - 30 three stars, 75 two stars and 534 one star - spread across all of France.
Also read: Michelin-starred chef Jean-François Piège shows us his “Recipe Directory”
To avoid spoiling the party, the demotions had been announced well in advance, without a media storm this year, like Marc Veyrat in 2019 or Guy Savoy last year.
The ceremony was also an opportunity to pay tribute to chef Serge Vieira, who died at the age of 46 in July, whose two-star restaurant in Cantal will be taken over by his wife Marie-Aude.
Created in 1900 by brothers André and Edouard Michelin for motorists, the red guide is today present in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and is available in 45 destinations.
As much decried as respected and feared by chefs, Michelin is still rain and shine on world gastronomy, even if its paper sales are in free fall, down 62% in 10 years according to Livres Hebdo, and only other rankings (Gault&Millau, the List, 50 Best) come to jostle it.
With AFP
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