Cyrille Montanier, the Lexique metronome
Cyrille is a real character! At first glance, he seems rather closed-minded, but we soon come face to face with a passionate and rather funny chef, with the added bonus of an incredible career path. He discovered cooking at the age of 14. He began with a series of internships to convince himself that the path was the right one. After thirty-six years of hard work, it’s clear that he belongs in the kitchen!
He’s seen many great names come and go. He began his apprenticeship with Alain Béchis at the Michelin-starred Le Pirate restaurant in Ferney-Voltaire. At 18, he joined the Compagnons du Tour de France, before rubbing shoulders with Paul Bocuse and George Blanc. His career then took off at the Hôtel de Ville restaurant in Crissier, where he became second-in-command to chef Philippe Rochat, working with a 25-strong brigade at the time..
Culinary independence
Cyrille Montanier moved to our beautiful City of Calvin in 2008, in a bid to get closer to his guests and leave the world of the stars behind. His gastronomic bliss is called Le Lexique, which opened eighteen years ago. With one person in the dining room and a second in the kitchen to support him during the peak hunting season, he is in communion with his clientele. At work, as in his spare time, music is omnipresent in his life. As a teenager, he learned to play the drums… a rhythm of life that still shapes his daily life.
As with the movement of a metronome, all the toggles correspond to a task: TAC! a knife stroke, TAC! filleting a fish, TAC! julienning a vegetable, TAC! searing a piece of meat… But as soon as it’s time to eat, it’s into a gentler mood that we’re welcomed, to old remastered tracks such as those by the band Cock Robin, before starting up again at the end of the service with Dire Straits. Enjoy!
