Lucas Desbiolles: Table Brute, sensitive soul
Some words hit harder than others. “Brut”, for example. A word that punches, that almost scratches, that could make you cringe. By christening his address Table Brutechef Lucas Desbiolles didn’t take the easy way out. He preferred tension to comfort, relief to tepidness. And yet, behind this somewhat rough facade lies a score of great sensitivity.
Glass kitchen
The parallel is obvious. With his visible tattoos and assertive appearance, the chef could almost give the impression of wanting to fight. But as soon as you walk through the door, you realize that the brutality is just an illusion. Here, it’s all about nuance, asserted and assumed.
Outside, Geneva transforms, jostles and sometimes crumbles under the repeated blows of hurried urbanism. Inside, time stands still. We cross in front of an open, glassed-in kitchen, like a stage where the chef and his brigade are busy, concentrated and almost silent on this spring lunch. We take our seats.
In writing…
Even before you taste, Lucas Desbiolles writes to you on the menu. A few lines about the people who feed his plates. Always the product. The cochon de Jussy, the Aubrac beef raised in Meynier, on the farm that bears the same family name. A coincidence. A declaration of intent, almost an oath. To respect and never betray.
Then comes the green asparagus, queen of the moment. Warm, crunchy, barely tamed, somewhere between raw and cooked, accompanied by a 63-degree egg and a hollandaise awakened by coffee. Yes, coffee. A hint of audacity, almost insolent, frames a dried duck meat. The plate seems to deconstruct before your eyes, but it holds together, vibrates, tells a story.
Grilled sole
Then comes grilled and rolled sole, accompanied by Paimpol cocos and a savagnin beurre blanc spiked with nasturtium. Here, the chef changes tone. More classic, almost sentimental. A form of homage, perhaps. Proof, above all, that beneath the “raw” varnish, there’s a mastery, a culture, a desire to do things right that’s unmistakable.
At Lucas Desbiolles, commitment is not a slogan. It’s in every gesture, every product, every contrast. So yes, push open the door to Table Brute. Not to be confronted with any kind of brutality, but to discover a cuisine that shakes things up, with a certain sensitivity.
