Best Chefs – Jean Andre Charial, Oustau Baumaniere

Jean-André Charial , born on July 7 , 1945in Paris , is a great French chef owner of Baumanière les Baux-de-Provence , founded by his grandfather Raymond Thuilier in 1945 , and of the legendary gourmet restaurant, L’Oustau de Baumanière, which has two Michelin stars .

Jean-André Charial was born the same year as Baumanière, which opened at Christmas 1945. He is the grandson of the creator of Oustau de Baumanière: Raymond Thuilier and the son of his daughter Jeanne Savy-Thuilier wife of Lucien Charial. As a child, he spent many holidays in the “Val d’Enfer” area and kept a dazzling memory of it.

Training

In 1962, Jean-André Charial obtained his baccalaureate and joined HEC in 1964, from which he graduated in 1967 after a second year internship at the Waldorf Astoria in New York. He then did his military service in Tunisia in cooperation as hotel manager in Skanes. On March 1, 1969, he arrived in Baumanière, at the request of his grandfather Raymond Thuilier, and began with management and administration. From 1970, he went into the dining room and in 1973, he worked in the kitchen. It was then that he went to the biggest ones: Troisgros , Chapel , Haeberlin , Bocuse , Girardet in particular to complete his training. Since that time, he has been cooking the Oustau de Baumanière with his grandfather, then alone when Raymond Thuilier died in 1993.

Professional career

In 1985 at the request of the Taj hotel chain, he opened a restaurant in London in a hotel belonging to the chain, the Saint James Court Buckingham Gate: the Auberge de Provence. The London adventure ended in 2003 when the hotel was sold to Crown Plazza. In 1987 he became a consultant for the Myako hotel in Kyoto and gave lessons in the famous Hattori school. In 1988: Jean-André Charial created the “Château Romanin” vineyard in biodynamic viniculture in association with Mr. Peyraud. (Appellation les Baux de Provence) and will be its manager until 2002. Then, he pursues the principle of Biodynamics within the Domaine de Lauzières, of his friend Jean-Daniel Schlaepfer, where 8,000 bottles of “Affective” are produced today, his new wine made from old Grenache. When asked if he is the creator of “Affective”, he replies with a pirouette claiming that the name of this red wine was born from a conversation with his friend Georges Wolinski about the Prime Minister ” Jean-Pierre Raffarin…”. After getting the owner rights of this wine, he retained the qualifier for the first cuvée of his new red, In 1993. After the death of his grandfather, he undertook major investments in the Oustau de Baumanière and the Cabro d’Or, today luxury 5-star hotels in Provence, then faithful to the inspiration of his grandfather, he developed the family business. In 2005, he opened a bistro on the Place de Maussane-les-Alpilles , called La Place, which he sold 10 years later. Then in 2007, he bought the Prieuré business in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon, a former convent that had become a Relais & Châteaux hotel. The same year, he created a Spa in Baumanière. In 2009 – 2010 at the request of the Boix-vive family, former owners of Rossignol Skis , he took over the management of the Strato restaurant in Courchevel, where he obtained two stars in the Michelin Guide in 2010 .

In 2015, he created a new space at La Cabro d’Or: La Table d’hôtes, in order to introduce the spirit of Baumanière to an even wider audience.