At the head of L’Imprévu, in Vitry-sur-Seine, Alain and Laurent Roucous enthusiastically share a love of good food and good wines. A gourmet meeting to plan…
The first was born in Rodez in 1965 and grew up in Entraygues, in Nord-Aveyron. Just like the second who spent the first five years of his life between Le Nayrac and Entraygues, he who was born in 1967, in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges (Val-de-Marne).
The two cousins Alain and Laurent Roucous, today at the head of the restaurant L’Imprévu, a beautiful establishment located in Vitry-sur-Seine, at the gates of Paris, did not however follow the same path. And it was not written that they would one day be partners.
Laurent, Jean-Adrien (Laurent’s son) and Alain Roucous in one of the courtyards of L’Imprévu where sixty vines are planted.
Alain in the kitchen who “regrets not having attended hotel school”. “He’s a great cook,” insists Laurent, who manages the room.
But before taking over the family business, the two cousins followed very different paths.
Alain, sales representative at Lavazza
Alain, whose parents have a farm in the Truyère valley, trained as a carpenter, cabinetmaker and industrial designer at a very young age. Bac pro in hand, he was hired at the Combettes factory in Entraygues before a wave of dismissals, four years later. He then left to do his military service, in 1985-1986, with the alpine hunters and the para commandos in Collioure. It was on July 6, 1986 – a date he had not forgotten – that he landed in Paris. “My brother threw me into the job and I attacked the next day.” The young man, who has just turned 21, does the washing up, the service and even his first steps in the kitchen.
Welcome to L’Imprévu where Alain and Laurent Roucous give you a warm welcome.
In 1991, he joined Henri Large – which became Lavazza in 1998 – as a sales representative before becoming sector manager. “I learned a lot, notes Alain Roucous. And I acquired skills that I then used in catering.” And it was on April 1, 2001, on the occasion of the baptism of little Jean-Adrien, the son of his cousin Laurent, that he discussed with the latter the advisability of joining forces to take the reins of the family affair. “My parents are tired,” whispers Laurent. And the two therefore resume L’Imprévu, on January 1, 2002. “There is no coincidence”, assures Alain.
Laurent saw himself as a farmer
No coincidence but no clear path either since Laurent was not destined to succeed his parents. “I wanted to go back to Aveyron to take over the grandparents’ farm,” he admits. He therefore passed a BEP at La Bretonnière high school in Chailly-en-Brie, in Seine-et-Marne. He then worked there for a year as an agricultural worker before being called up for military service in 1988. Headed to Kehl, Germany, where he was assigned to the mess – the officers’ canteen. A position that will earn him a letter of congratulations from the colonel. This positive experience launched the young man into the profession. Back in France, he worked in catering at Orly airport for six years.
But he wants to enrich his training before joining his parents at L’Imprévu. “If you want to learn the trade, you have to go to the Bousquets”, they tell him. He was therefore hired at the Balto, Porte d’Ivry, a house in which he would stay for a year and a half. He finally joined the family business in 1995, the year his daughter Laura was born. A business develops with the arrival of his cousin Alain and the works – supervised, in 2017, by the Aveyron architect René Bouldoires – “which give a lot of character”.
Succession
After the cousins, it is Jean-Adrien Roucous, nephew of Alain and son of Laurent, who should take over from L’Imprévu.
Born in 2000, he attended, like many sons of Aveyronnais, the Médéric school in Paris (XVIIe) where he passed his CAP restoration service and his professional baccalaureate, alternately at the National Assembly. He also trained as a sommelier, at the starred restaurant Divellec (VIIe).
The young man then won the title of best apprentice in France (service). Departmental and regional gold medal, however, he fails in the final (tableware and service). He now provides service and continues to learn the trade at L’Imprévu.
His big sister Laura, for her part, after a solid six-year training at the Ferrandi school, works at Sodhexo Prestige. “I hope she will join the family business,” whispers her father Laurent.
A good address
The establishment has 84 covers plus 120 more spread over the two terraces set up in the interior courtyards. At the table, Alain offers traditional and generous French cuisine, tinged with Aveyron – in particular the Aubrac label meat from Conquet – and Laurent takes care of the wine – estaing, Côte de Millau, Marcillac – and also many wines he takes pleasure in having people taste it, he who is part of the Compagnons du Beaujolais. He also plans to acquire a small plot in this terroir and produce a special cuvée. L’Imprévu was voted “Best wine bistro” in 2004.
Never far from Aveyron, Alain and Laurent keep the link with the country through the friendships of Entraygues and Nayrac and the Aveyronnais from here and elsewhere, in which also participate the Rabalaïres Laura and Jean-Adrien, the Laurent’s children.
