Par Laurent REBOURS
Published on October 16 22 at 11:42
Stéphane Wenz-Charrier he is a happy man. Co-manager of Chartres restaurant (Eure-et-Loir) The Mill of Ponceau with Mickaël Charrier and Franck Wenz, he brought to light once again the rare pearl to be officiated in the kitchens of his restaurant.
Vital Rozet he doesn’t come from very far to tell the truth since he was the second of the previous chefs to make the fame of these places dedicated to gastronomy and sharing with a declared desire, even militant, to be part of a process of sustainable development. There are many areas with which the new chef is totally in line. Encounter.
A combination of competence and know-how
The owners of the Moulin de Ponceau are all from pure products for hotels and restaurants who have been able to find the perfect alchemy by putting their experience and their know-how in the common basket.
All three attended the schools of excellence and high standards and they naturally reproduce this level today in their establishment on the banks of the Eure.
Stéphane Wenz-Charrier thus began at Château d’Esclimont before becoming a hotel manager, including a five-star hotel in Paris, before returning to his native region of Alsace.
With his partner he created a burger chain well known to Chartrains, Via Est 231 as there is one at Karting de Chartres. What brought him a new string for his already fairly full skill arc.
For his part, Mickaël worked for ten years at Alain Dutournier then at the Abbaye des Vaux de Cernay, five years also at Esclimont as deputy director and in Paris.
They had already deposited their suitcases in Chartres, first for the quality of life, then for the proximity to the Parisian region. And then, three years ago, the opportunity arose to take over the premises.
We literally fell in love with these places which had been closed for four years. We thought there was really something going on there and my brother Franck, pastry chef, vice pastry world champion, joined us!
“We opened the door … and everyone arrived”
Since their acquisition in 2019, Franck has chosen to relocate Spain which does not prevent him from continuing to provide his valuable advice and create unique pastry recipes.
“We didn’t really know how well received we would be three years ago, but we opened the door … and everyone came”, laughs Stéphane.
Word of mouth, a great expectation for a place appreciated in the Chartrains, a refreshing job, openness to the outside, modernized rooms, furniture in unison … and obviously a kitchen to match. out to be a winner.
The first ecotable chartraine
Since the beginning of their adventure, Stéphane and Mickaël have wanted to play the card of a responsible approach. Already from the traceability of their products which requires them to remain within a local perimeter of 50 km around Chartres, including for fish.
A further pushed approach by obtaining the ecological label which, through annual audits, literally dissects the activity of the plant, both at an environmental and social level.
Invoices, staff working conditions, local and organic suppliers, waste treatment … everything is examined. But we fully subscribe.
And for good reason, the co-managers have had the opportunity to hone their skills in many factories and they know very well which model they don’t want to replicate. ” We also have a watch here which is quite rare in our sector “.
Kindness to the teams is a guarantee of quality for customers.
Ecotable, soon level 3
To go even further in their eco-labeling process, managers have long sought the waste treatment that will affect the third – and last – level of the label.
So there are few boxes and they are sorted, the glass is recycled, almost everything is used in the kitchen. One difficulty, due to the urban environment, is that it is difficult to use hens as natural helpers or for composting. For their organic waste, they turned to the recycling center in Mainvilliers.
Their dream involves other Chartres restaurateurs in their approach, allowing them to join forces and, in the long run, reduce costs and thus increase margins.
A new chef who leaves his mark
If they have entered the Michelin guide, they set out to do the sequel without a relentless race for the stars. “We will not change anything, that’s for sure, we want to remain accessible. “
In just over three years old they had three bosses at the helm. A first course that he opened and left because he was looking for a smaller place.
Suddenly it’s his second, Paul Defrancewho took over brilliantly for two years before taking over the management of the Brittany to open his restaurant.
” AND super talented chef which pushed us to go even further in the ecological approach. A great name for tomorrow, we were sad to see him leave ”, confides Stéphane.
And it is once again the second that is taking a step forward since Vital Rozet has really grown up with Paul Defrance over the past two years with whom he has worked in true synergy on the same operating mode, with the same vision.
Suffice it to say that he was nurtured with the culture of the house and that he quickly found its marks.
Full white paper
At 24, Vital is ultra-motivated, to say the least.
His hotel school, he made in the Dom-Tom in Martinique before returning to mainland France to Giorgio Bianco then to the Moulin de Ponceau.
We expect it to bring its own twist, which is already the case with rum-flavored crayfish, for example. He is given full carte blanche to prepare his dishes and find his local suppliers.
And what won over the executives was also his approach, his character, “Vital is a benevolent person, this is very important, we didn’t want someone with temperament”.
Vital has something to hold on to anyway when it comes to preserving the planet since his father was in the environmental police in Guyana, Guadeloupe and Reunion. Just think of the influences that have always brought him.
From the second that I was in the world of cooking, I did a BTS in hotel and restaurant alternatively in Saint-Denis-de-la-Réunion where I worked at the Comptoir du potager with a chef who has worked for several starred. A rigorous school that motivated me to do great things.
He continued in a second restaurant in Saint-Denis as a second in the brewery and then returned to Chartres in 2020 where he found his entire family who had preceded him.
Shortly after he was hired at the Moulin de Ponceau and the Covid-19 crisis Go past!
Of party leader at the entrances it first became according to of the chef and now he is in charge.
I learned a lot from Paul Defrance but also from the influences of the first chef, they had their own style and great techniques. The concept is not necessarily taken for granted because we have to find our products within this fifty kilometer radius but we can be surprised!
Yes, some surprises because Vital intends to include some dishes in the menu offer foreign influencesand for this he can, for example, rely sweet potato of Eure-et-Loir o crayfish 100% pure France.
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