Rouens. Cheaper menus, “more simplicity”: the historic chef of Gill has changed the formula
By Margot Nicodeme
Published on
Gilles Tournadre regret: some of his clientele think that he is no longer the titular chef of his historic restaurant, GilQuai de la Bourse in Rouen (Seine Maritime). So yes, he did return his two stars in the Michelin guide at the end of 2020, and yes, he is a partner in the Café Hamlet business, which opened in June 2021 in the heart of the aître Saint-Maclou. But rather than sell his formerly gourmet restaurant, the chef, tired of the constraints linked to the prestige of his establishment, preferred to reinvent it. But beware, “the DNA of the kitchen is the same. I learned in a certain way, and I realized that doing less well, or choosing less good products, I don’t know how to do,” smiles Gilles Tournadre.
“With the stars, we felt obligated”
“People think Gill doesn’t exist anymore. I confirm that Gilles is still with Gill”, he prefers to laugh. His other restaurants (La Place, Gill Côté Bistrot) are run by their own chefs, and at Café Hamlet, which serves desserts from his shop Les Pâtisseries de Gill, the entrepreneur essentially has a creative role. “Me, what I bring to pastries are ideas, osmosis, marriages of flavors. Every week, with the other partners, we get together to think of new surprises. At the same time, and as he had announced, he reworked Gill’s concept, and in the process got rid of the too conventional elements.
Starting with the tablecloths, which discovered massive wooden tables, then changes in the service. “There was the bread service, with 36 different kinds, now we leave the bunk of bread on the table. We also leave the bottle of water there, but we continue to serve the wine, because we have a nice cellar. But the real transformation is illustrated in the menu, with fewer frills and, as the chef himself says, “more simplicity”. Gone is the string of petit fours sometimes left aside by already sated customers, Gilles Tournadre has reduced it to three sweets. The same goes for the amuse-bouche, between the aperitif and the start of the meal, which seemed too much.
Before, with the stars, we felt obliged to do all that. I made the choice of less expensive menus, by deleting things. The Tasting menu, for example, went from 115 to 85 euros.
Adapt to the international situation
The former lunch menu, at 45 euros, is now also served in the evening. The “young menu”, at 85 euros, which includes “the aperitif, the wine and the three courses”, is meanwhile kept until the end of March, in priority to students. “You have to give them the desire to discover cooking, that’s the clientele of the future. If this new face of Gill seems to seduce, even, the chef is surprised, the most loyal customers, he has reservations about the future. After the Covid, and in the midst of the war in Ukraine, “we are thinking”. Not to reinvent itself a second time, but to adapt.
“There may soon be supply problems. I’m thinking of the fish, and the boats that don’t go out, because of the price of fuel oil. If you buy fish at a high price, and sell it at a high price…I’m not sure that’s what the customer is ready for. Instead, Gill Tournadre prefers alternatives, such as focusing his menu more on seasonal vegetables, produced in France. “For example, we work with a young market gardener in Saint-Pierre-de-Varengeville. »
For the future, the leader suggests that he could pass the torch, even if the calendar does not seem well fixed. “With the hotels opening nearby, the quays will come back to life. This is a restaurant with a future. ” To be continued.
Was this article helpful to you? Note that you can follow 76actu in the My News space. In one click, after registration, you will find all the news of your favorite cities and brands.