EDIT: We go back to this portrait of Glenn Viel, while M6 has just announced its participation in the new season of Top Chef, replacing Michel Sarran. This portrait was produced in September 2020 on the occasion of his title of Chef of the Year.
The build of an athlete combined with the finesse of a jeweler. Undoubtedly one of the reasons why Glenn Viel was elected Chef of the Year 2020 by his peers, after having succeeded in reclaiming a third star in the Michelin guide, at the beginning of the year, for the Oustau de Baumanière, in Les Baux- de-Provence, in the Bouches-du-Rhône.
An adventure that began six years ago for this native Breton. “When they called me I was not too hot, I did not want to be number 2, I was 35 years old, the age and maturity to cook, remembers Glenn Viel. And then the feeling went well, Jean-André Charial found the right words ”. Here he is, chef of one of the most recognized houses in French gastronomy, but in decline.
A natural leader
A nice blow for the owner of the place, Jean-André Charial, to the point of shedding a tear when the third star returned. “We lost it in 1990, a little before the death of my grandfather, Raymond Thuilier, the founder of the place. It took us almost 30 years to get it back and it’s not for lack of trying, ”he says.
A relief for Jean-André Charial and a great reward for Glenn Viel, and his teams. “It’s collegial work, there are 25 of us in the kitchen and it happens naturally. Maybe if I had been 1.50m and 60kg it would have been more difficult. I think a lot about the job, I am more sure of myself and I explain better. Surely thanks to the maturity ”, explains this tall guy of one meter 90.
To the endian
Reflection is Glenn Viel’s fuel with a perpetual “daily analysis”. “I work a lot on the agreement between the dish and the bread with my head baker. Sometimes customers could choose bread that distorted the dish. We want to guide them as much as possible. Lately I have been working a lot on the serving temperature. It is ideal around 47, 48 ° C, for maximum comfort. Above, the brain perceives the heat before the taste ”, suggests this artist of the detail.
Glenn Viel abandons dishes that are too visual, and too overloaded, to get to the point: “the taste, the textures, the pleasure”. “Sometimes you’ll smell a huge bunch of flowers and nothing will happen, when it can take just one rose to be awesome.” Some may find my plates too light, but the generosity is in the work of each element, with a particular cooking, ”he considers.
“The tradition of today and the modernity of tomorrow”
Just like this “stapled red mullet” rolled up in baking paper before being stapled to be roasted. “It’s frozen, colorful, as if we hadn’t touched it. It was a long job, a super heavy reflection, but which gives rise to grandiose emotions, ”he rejoices. “Today’s tradition is tomorrow’s modernity,” he continues with his Vincent Cassel voice.
And he likes to play with these reflections, even the names of his dishes. “When the dishes are called sick, words can quickly condition the customer and afterwards he does not find his way around. I had added “coffee” to a dish when there was none. Most customers would tell me “that touch of coffee is great”. It is also rare to have different opinions at the same table ”.
Sea shepherd
A reflection that also nourishes the life of a man of this father of two children, without having to wait for an upheaval, like that of the Covid. “I am worried about the world in general. I knew it was going to happen, we could already see the beginnings. And nature regulates itself. We no longer have time to discuss, to procrastinate, we have to be drastic, we are in the process of eating up our capital, ”considers Glenn Viel, who would see himself boarding a Sea Shepherd boat.
In the meantime, he continues his action “Make the bill go up”, by going to collect litter in the surroundings of his restaurant. The cook of the year, and the one of tomorrow.
Brandon Dehan elected Pastry Chef of the year 2020
Full box for l’Oustau de Baumanière who, not content with winning the title of chef of the year with Glenn Viel, doubled the stake with Brandon Dehan, elected pastry chef of the year 2020. This young chef arrived in Provence he five years ago. “It’s weird to receive this title at 26, I’m the youngest chef to have obtained it,” he says.
The one who was directly appointed chef at l’Oustau de Baumanière at the age of only 22 shares the same vision of the profession as Glenn Viel. “I have a gourmet vision of pastry, while going to the essentials, to the end of things. I understood how it works and it works 95% of the time. So much so that many thought that Glenn did everything, including baking. It is rare to find such continuity between dishes and desserts in a gourmet restaurant. Often the egos take over, ”explains the young man.
Aware of the revival of pastry, especially thanks to Instagram, he does not recognize himself in these codes. “The taste remains the essential thing, it is what brings emotion. I prefer to eat something ugly but tasty than something beautiful but bland, ”says Brandon. While waiting to invent the next pastry, “which has not been done for years”, Brandon Dehan is working on candied beets in its own juice, smoked beets, accompanied by coconut ice cream . A nod to its native North.