Chefs au Sommet d'Auron 2023, Alexandre Martin and Mathieu Marchand at l'Alisier

chefs sommet auron 2023 martin marchand alisier

Alexandre Martin & Mathieu Marchand ©YesICannes.com

Chefs au Sommet d’Auron 2023 welcomed Chef Alexandre Martin and Chef-Pâtissier Mathieu Marchand for a high gastronomy dinner at L’Alisier.

Colette Fabron (mayor of Saint-Étienne-de-Tinée-Auron) & her husband, Eric Cabral (Auron deputy), Mika (L’Alisier) ©YesICannes.com

Chefs au Sommet d’Auron 2023: from 14 to 19 January 2023, the 11th edition of the Mountain Gastronomy Festival offers memorable gastronomic experiences to tourists and inhabitants of the emblematic Mercantour resort. In addition to the after-ski cooking shows, every evening, renowned chefs officiate in the restaurants of the Haute Tinée resort and offer sumptuous gastronomic dinners at a unique and privileged price of 55€ per person. Chef Alexandre Martin and pastry chef Mathieu Marchand, both from the Comptoir Gourmand de l’Oasis – Collection Barbossi in Mandelieu Napoule, delighted the taste buds of fine gourmets at L’Alisier on the runs of the ski resort. To complete this royal dinner, the excellent singer-guitarist ACE from Mougins provided the musical atmosphere throughout the evening.

Alexandre Martin ©YesICannes.com

Eleven years of passion for gastronomy!

The Mountain Gastronomy Festival is celebrating its eleventh anniversary. This flagship event once again brings together some twenty Côte d’Azur’s top chefs and talented pastry chefs to share an authentic moment of culinary pleasure and conviviality in the heart of the sumptuous Mercantour mountains. Concocted by the chefs in kitchens made temporary for the event, the menus composed of an amuse-bouche, a starter, a main course and a dessert will delight the gourmets’ taste buds every evening.

Alexandre Martin ©YesICannes.com

Gastronomic dinner at L’Alisier

On Tuesday 17 January 2023, chef Alexandre Martin and pastry chef Mathieu Marchand, both of whom work at the Comptoir Gourmand de l’Oasis – Collection Barbossi in Mandelieu La Napoule, transposed their delicious culinary experiences to the warm, wooded, mountain chalet setting of L’Alisier restaurant on the slopes of Auron. The Domaine de Barbossi, a four-hectare vineyard nestled in the hollow of the Estérel, producing gourmand and seductive nectars on volcanic soil, the red Estérel Volcanique cuvée was the perfect match for Alexandre Martin’s main course.

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Barbossi’s vegetables at the foot of the slopes

To prepare the menu for his chef’s dinner at the Chefs au Sommet d’Auron, Alexandre Martin was inspired by the market gardener from the Domaine de Barbossi who brought him some exceptional fennels! The fertile soil of the domain having provided garlic, and root vegetables: carrots, turnips, Jerusalem artichokes of unique quality, the chef wished to share the privilege of these remarkable textures and tastes with the gourmets at the Mountain Gastronomy Festival. He thus combined their seductive local flavours with judiciously selected poultry to compose a dish that delighted both the pupils and the taste buds.

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Alexandre Martin, a start in the stars

After graduating top of his class at the prestigious Ferrandi School in Paris in 2005, Alexandre Martin began his career in England at the three-star Waterside Inn in Bray – ranked 10th in the world – with French chef Alain Roux and then at Fredrick’s Hotel and Spa – Maidenhead. On his return to France, after a brief stay in Paris, he worked seasonally in Spain in beach restaurants. Back in the capital, his talents led him to join Joël Robuchon‘s L’Atelier for a year.

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A career with the greatest

After nine months at the Montalembert, his last stop in Paris was for the reopening in 2010 of the restaurant Les Ambassadeurs at the Hôtel de Crillon, as chef de partie with the chef Christopher Hache. He stayed there for almost four years before moving to the Côte d’Azur as executive sous-chef at Le Paloma in Mougins, where he joined the team of two-starred chef Nicolas Decherchi in 2013. In 2017, he was in Prague as executive chef for the opening of the Hotel Paloma Pruhonice restaurant where he stayed for four years. Finally, he will follow Nicolas Decherchi to the restaurant L’Oasis in Mandelieu before becoming its chef.

Alexandre Martin ©YesICannes.com

Tribute to the snowy peaks

For his sumptuous dessert at the Chefs au Sommet d’Auron, Mathieu Marchand was inspired by a Duja biscuit with roasted hazelnuts that he had made for his Christmas logs at L’Oasis. As he wanted a white dessert, in a nod to snow and snowy summits, he covered it with a vanilla cream to accompany a vanilla poached pear. A light dessert to punctuate a gastronomic dinner in the mountains.

Mathieu Marchand ©YesICannes.com

Head in the stars, hands in the flour

Originally from Rennes, after his CAP-BTM and an apprenticeship in a shop, Mathieu Marchand worked for four seasons with chef Marc Dach at the Club Cavalière in Lavandou in the summer, and at the Grand Coeur in Méribel in the winter, both five-star establishments. He then continued his career under the stars as chef de partie at the Grand Véfour with the two-starred chef Guy Martin; he left after two and a half years as second.

Mathieu Marchand ©YesICannes.com

An eclectic career

His first position as pastry chef was in the south of France, in Mougins, with Serge Gouloumès at the Relais et Châteaux Le Mas Candille, where he stayed for two years before flying to the United States with his wife to work at the Union League Café, a luxe brasserie between Boston and New York. An eclectic career, punctuated by a three-year residency with the group La Môme in Cannes. Mathieu Marchand proposes his creations within the Barbossi houses, a gourmet discovery to be appreciated on the menu of the Comptoir Gourmand de l’Oasis – Collection Barbossi in Mandelieu Napoule.

Mathieu Marchand ©YesICannes.com

Menu tasted at l’Alisier (photos YesICannes.com)

Amuse bouche: Velouté of Celery with Yellow Wine and Smoked “label rouge” Herring

Starter: Salmon Damier with Charcoal and its Lemon Mayonnaise, pearled with Dill Oil

Main course : Supreme of Albufera farm Poultry, roasted Garlic purée with green Anise and root Vegetables

Dessert: On a Duja Crunch with Piedmont Hazelnuts, poached Pear with Spices and Organic Vanilla Cream from Madagascar

Mignardises: Macarons from Mic Mac Macarons by Bruno Laffargue

Bienvenue cocktail

L’Alisier, pleasures for the eyes and the palate

In the heart of the Mercantour mountains, at the foot of the slopes of the popular resort of Auron, L’Alisier opens onto a sunny panoramic terrace overlooking the snowy peaks of the Alps. In this restaurant, where it is pleasant to take a break between two descents, you can have lunch directly on the slopes, “skis on feet”, warmly welcomed by Yona and Mika. The recently renovated dining room is decorated in warm, woody tones, with wood featured everywhere around the fireplace. A huge trunk dominates the room, supporting a bar and its bistro chairs for nibbling in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The cuisine is traditional, based on seasonal products. During the ski season, Jesus will pick you up in snowmobile from the car park for a little extra fun!

The Oasis experience

On the shores of the Grande Bleue in the bay of Cannes, in the heart of the fishing village of Mandelieu La Napoule, the Oasis houses offer unique experiences of gastronomic pleasure. The charming Ermitage de l’Oasis hotel***, at the mouth of the Siagne river, the emblematic Oasis restaurant with its boutique and its selection of fine food products, its Comptoir Gourmand, its inexhaustible wine cellar with 1,200 references, and the authentic Bistrot de l’Oasis, all invite you to travel and escape.

Les Chefs au Sommet d’Auron
From 14 to 19 January 2023
Restaurants in Auron, St Étienne de Tinée and St Dalmas-le-Selvage
Information: Auron Tourist Office
Tel: +33 (0)4 93 23 02 66