Valentin Pouzet: reserved personality, confident cooking!
The breeze has picked up on this cold winter’s morning to which Geneva has become accustomed, and we meet up with Valentin Pouzet over a double espresso. Unaccustomed to being interviewed, the new face of the Coin Coin restaurant and bar doesn’t seem very comfortable talking about his life as a preamble to our exchange. And yet… with a certain restraint and a good dose of shyness, as our discussion progresses, he nevertheless lends himself to the game. Between Paris, London and Geneva, let’s get to know this new talent who’s making pots and pans quiver on the corner of boulevard Carl-Vogt and rue des Bains.
From the countryside to the City of Light
Something beautiful is happening at the restaurant Coin Coin since the arrival of Pierre Lelièvre alongside Marion Léger and Aurélien Ellies. On the stove side, young chef Valentin Pouzet stands out for his cuisine intermingled with elegant creations based around cochonnaille and seafood. The grandson of a farmer, he remembers the times he spent around the Sunday table. Not a keen student, he opted for an apprenticeship. “I didn’t like school and I needed a dynamic, enriching and varied environment. In a way, cooking helped me to channel myself.
It was the profession of charcutier-traiteur that first attracted him. It’s impossible for him to forget his first day as a young apprentice, carrying a pig carcass to his workbench to cut it up… at the age of 15. He discovered a trade that immersed him in a multitude of activities, from meat, vegetables and pastry (for puff pastry) to fish. With his apprenticeship certificate in hand, he continued in this vein, joining the prestigious Parisian company VerotCharcutiers & Traiteurs, where young Valentin is like a fish in water!
Crucial encounters
After three years of loyal service, he decided to cross the Channel to discover the world of the hotel business while reinforcing his language skills. He was hired at the Mandarin Oriental, before giving in to the call of La Compagnie des Vins Surnaturels, one of the group’s most popular gastronomic addresses. Experimentalgroup, then in the early stages of its meteoric rise. He met chef Sylvain Roucayrol (currently at Tuba Club in Marseille), whom he would stay with throughout his time in London, and who offered him the opportunity to jointly manage the kitchens at the Henrietta Hotel in Covent Garden. It was a major challenge that Valentin didn’t want to pass up. “Sylvain made me grow as a chef and pushed me to my culinary limits”.
The health crisis sweeps the world with its virus and compromises Valentin’s career plans on English soil. He takes some time to think things over with his family, and joins chef Andres Arocena’s brigade at the restaurant La Micheline. Being part of a team eager to make its mark on Geneva brought him back to life. He works hard and learns the codes of haute gastronomy. “As well as the daring land-sea combinations, I really discovered the notion of product and cooking. My time at La Micheline also showed me what real team cohesion means. Without this unifying unit, nothing can work.
A beautiful story
Awards rain down on La Micheline, but Valentin Pouzet is on a quest for independence and freedom. Everything at Coin Coin has to be done, and starting from scratch is a godsend for the chef. Comforting dishes, naughty dishes, dishes in sauce, sharing and gourmet delights are the watchwords of what he wants to put forward. Let yourself be seduced by a potato mille-feuille, veal tartare and smoked eel, before succumbing to a squid stew with crispy rice, monkfish and rouille. Full of humility, Valentin rarely leaves the dining room, and remains very reserved. If you’re passing through, don’t hesitate to ask for the chef… you’ll meet a charming man who’s still in the early stages of a beautiful story….
