After thirty-two years managing the Skipper, Krzysztof Frankowski leaves his ship to let Charlotte and Bastien Guillochon create their café-restaurant Gamin. Meeting with two young and experienced buyers.
They are the same age as the Skipper, a restaurant which former international footballer Krzysztof Frankowski had made an institution in Saint-Nazaire, in Petit Maroc. At 32, Charlotte and Bastien Guillochon were seduced by this place which faces the basin, “where the fisherman arrives who delivers the fish to me,” smiles chef Bastien Guillochon. He adds: “The transmission is benevolent, Krzysztof was in the handover.”
Indeed, the two men worked together in 2022 before confirming the takeover project. “Before the summer, we visited dozens of restaurants a week and I got on well with Krzysztof.” Charlotte Guillochon worked at the Brasserie du M, the former Café Bouillu in La Baule where she had discovered catering when she was growing up in Saint-Nazaire, with her literary baccalaureate in her pocket.
“By doing seasons in Pornichet and La Baule, I loved the contact with the customers, says Charlotte. I then made a BTS Hotel and catering. During my internship at Arpège with Alain Passard in Paris, I met Bastien who was a clerk there. We’ve been working together for ten years!”
Paris, Corsica and New York
The couple ran a restaurant in Corsica for a season before flying to New York to learn English. They spent seven years there and their establishment was elected 11e best restaurant in the world in the ranking “the world’s 50 best restaurants”. It also enters the Michelin guide with two stars.
“I have always loved cooking, justifies Bastien. My great-grandfather was in catering. From the 3e, I went to the hotel schools Médéric, then Ferrandi in Paris. I was able to work at the starred restaurant Lasserre. I also cooked in a French bistro in Madrid, very different, but super rewarding!”
During the health crisis, the couple decides to cross the Atlantic again to be closer to their family. He puts down his suitcases in Saint-Nazaire married, with two children and a dog. “I rediscovered Saint-Nazaire with a new dynamic”, rejoices Charlotte. “Participating in this great potential motivates us”, adds Bastien who savors the region’s terroir and weaves his network with local producers.
Practical information
Open Monday to Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. from mid-July, the 80-seat café-restaurant will offer breakfasts and snacks, as well as a seasonal starter-main course-dessert menu of €30, in a setting cozy, with books and a glass roof open to the kitchen.
2023-06-09 07:00:44
#Gastronomy #Skipper #Kid
