On Tuesday April 12, Franck Putelat marked the history of French gastronomy by joining the club of chefs who have kept their Michelin stars for an entire decade. A feat he celebrated in the restaurant Le Parc, during an intimate and high-flying dinner. Three big names in French cuisine were there.
In the kitchens of Le Parc restaurant, it’s effervescence this Tuesday, April 12. Taste the sauces, check the cooking, prepare the plates… around thirty people are busy preparing a “exceptional meal“, masterfully organized by chef Franck Putelat. Bocuse d’Argent in 2003, the native of the Jura thus celebrated the tenth anniversary of his two stars, awarded each year by the Michelin Guide since 2012. An event “rare“, for which the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF) 2019 has chosen to surround himself with cooks of excellence.
Three stars and MOF, chef Christophe Bacquié (left) responded to the invitation of his friend and colleague.
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Bruno Oger (two stars) and Georges Blanc (three stars, MOF) have agreed to cook their signature dishes for this anniversary menu.
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“I was very touched to see the emotion of my young apprentices in the face of such great chefs”, confides Franck Putelat
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Christophe Bacquié (three stars, MOF), Georges Blanc (three stars, MOF), and Bruno Oger (two stars), and former Parc pastry chef Rémi Touja (2013 world champion) concocted their signature dishes for this menu. anniversary. “They are people I love, chefs I have worked with for a long time“, specifies Franck Putelat. During the evening, other of his colleagues had also sent him messages of congratulations, like Arnaud Donckele (three stars) and Gilles Goujon (three stars, MOF).
An evening “of prestige“, up to 350 euros for each of the 42 guests, aimed at celebrating “life’s work“Indeed, like all starred chefs, Franck Putelat puts his Michelin stars back into play every year.”As soon as the guide is published it is both a relief and a reset to hope to keep them the following year“, he says. In 2022, no less than 53 restaurants have lost their stars. “Every cook will tell you: it’s our lifeassures the adopted Carcassonnais, who started at the age of 14 in a Michelin-starred restaurant. It’s a perpetual questioning, a permanent quest for perfection.”
The service was precise to offer the 42 guests an exceptional moment.
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To afford this anniversary menu, customers had to pay 350 euros each.
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If he includes those who return their stars, like chef Sébastien Bras, Franck Putelat hopes to get a third. “But the step is high, and it is more and more difficult“, he admits. In question according to the head of the Park: the covid and the lack of staff which “caused some restaurants to close“, while others “have lost in spite of themselves in quality“.
As far as he is concerned, the multi-titled chef has more than ever the desire “to have fun“, at the Parc restaurant but also in his brasseries in Nîmes and Carcassonne. Because if he could be tempted by an experience in the Middle East, Franck Putelat does not forget the medieval city. “There are plenty of things to do here, it remains to find the investors.”
This anniversary evening also coincided with the 16th anniversary of the creation of the restaurant Le Parc
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If the first aperitif was served a little after 7 p.m., the evening did not end until around 2 a.m.
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