MEETING
with
L’astrance 
– Paris XVI
Everything related to vegetarianism and organic food was not allowed in the gastronomic sphere, and yet, chefs such as Roger Verger in the 1970s, and a little later, Michel Bras with his vegetable garden, were discreetly greening their menus. As we speak, there is not a restaurant in France or elsewhere that does not have a declared vocation for all things vegetable, that does not devote itself to vegetables as the new grail of gastronomy – organic and local at that – even if it means doing a little too much, it doesn’t matter, as long as it satisfies the palate of urbanites in search of nature. But there are other chefs, more discreet, who do not oversell the green label, such as Pascal Barbot who has had an intimate relationship with nature since his youth. The seasons, the plant, the seed, the flower, the fruit, give rhythm to the very personal cuisine of the chef.
For me, a garment must be part of oneself, one must feel confident with it, one must forget it like a second skin.
In 2000, the duo opened L’Astrance on rue Beethoven in the 16th arrondissement, a small, unpretentious 120m2 restaurant that was more like a gastronomic bistro, taking on the role of market cuisine inspired by the chef’s producer friends, such as Joël Thiébault, who, it must be said, had been taught well. Within a few years, L’Astrance became one of the most important restaurants on the world gastronomic scene, obtaining three MICHELIN stars and just about every other distinction that exists. Pascal Barbot is still surprised because this was not his goal.
Born in Vichy, Pascal Barbot has an intimate connection to the land and the seasons from his childhood. He took the CAP, BEP and Bac Pro, before taking his first steps in Auvergne, in very simple restaurants, then in a buron converted into a restaurant in the Chaudefour Valley where he worked during all his vacations. He lands in a wonderful family where he learns local cooking, in the heart of the Auvergne Volcanoes Natural Park in a protected reserve. It is there that he meets his mentor, Eric Vallet, the park warden and above all a professional botanist. After the landscapes of Auvergne, he left for London and became a commis in the restaurant Les Saveurs run by Joël Antunes, a MICHELIN star. There, Pascal Barbot discovered the hierarchy in the kitchen, and then the high gastronomy, he who had only known the local cuisine. Back in 1993, he returned to Alain Passard at the bottom of the ladder and finished as second chef five years later. He then moved to Sydney for his first position as chef at the Ampersand restaurant, where he stayed for two years, before launching his own business in Paris with his former colleague from l’Arpège and accomplice Christophe Rohat. In 2019, L’Astrance will move to the Jamin, Joël Robuchon’s historic restaurant.
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