Is the forest the new kitchen garden for chefs?

More and more chefs are proudly displaying their own kitchen gardens. While some prefer to rely on their own market gardeners, others grow their own vegetables as a complement, in order to have particular varieties, ensure optimum freshness on the plate or tell a pretty story to their guests. But another plot of land is a real source of inspiration for chefs: the forest.

Mushrooms, berries, truffles, wild garlic, chestnuts... France's undergrowth has no shortage of resources, and some restaurateurs don't need to travel miles to take advantage of nature's abundance. Christophe Hay, Romain Meder and Thomas Parnaud even have their own patch of forest to feed their plates with wild ingredients.

Truffles, alliaria and rosehips

Shortly after the difficult period of Covid-19 and repeated confinements, Christophe Hay "gavehimselfa little Christmas present". The chef at Fleur de Loire (4 toques), who already has his own vegetable garden and owns a herd of Wagyu cattle in Sologne, has "bought the truffle field from Jean-Pierre Chaussard, a friend who is also a beekeeper". "He planted this three-hectare truffle field between 2000 and 2015, with holm and golden oaks," explains the Chef of the Year 2021. "This allows me to have a constant harvest over the years and not depend on anyone," adds Christophe Hay, one of whose signature dishes is none other than this famous truffle, whose garnish evolves with the seasons. "It's very practical because this truffle farm is located in Cheverny, just 15 km from the restaurant. I go there as soon as possible with my teams to make them aware of the product and nature."

Romain Meder's philosophy is the same. At Domaine de Primard, in Guainville in the Eure-et-Loire region, the chef, who still lives in Paris, can recharge his batteries in the heart of a 40-hectare park of greenery housing a hotel, two restaurants, a spa, a vegetable garden and a few plots of land home to donkeys and sheep. Situated on the banks of the Eure, the property has not been fully exploited, and a few hectares of undergrowth remain, much to Romain Meder's delight. "I can't say exactly how much woodland we have, because it's scattered all over the estate, around the lake, near the parking lots... I was born in the country, I grew up in the woods. I was born in thecountryside, I grew up on the edge of a wood, my father was a horticulturist and I worked on a farm for a while, so I've got a good grasp of nature", says the chef. While he still learns a great deal from Gérard, the gardener at Domaine de Primard, the chef recounts a vivid memory that prompted him to take a greater interest in wild plants. "When I was working at the Plaza Athénée, I followed the plant picker François Couplan into the Bois de Vincennes. When he got out of the metro, he had already found 15 edible plants in 1 m²! It was incredible!"

In Guainville, Romain Meder enlivens his cooking with rosehips, cenelles, dandelion, nettles, yarrow, violet flowers and even alliaria "which has a little taste of wild garlic", without leaving the Domaine de Primard. "I transform these berries and plants into condiments. I make pastes, jams, sorbets... The possibilities are endless!"

© Maki Manoukian

The art of cooking with leaves

For Thomas Parnaud, of Hôtel Le Grand Monarque in Chartres (3 toques), things are slightly different. Since 2020, the chef has been involved with the association Grâce au Jardin, a project led by Jean-Marie Lioult, former parish priest of Châteaudun and Dreux. The latter has embarked on permaculture with a strong social dimension. "Forexample, Restos du Cœur beneficiaries can grow their own fruit and vegetables, and surplus produce is distributed to food banks," explains Thomas Parnaud. While the chef also offers these vegetables in his restaurant Le Georges, other unusual ingredients are sometimes found on the plate: leaves.

Laurent Seminel

"Within the same project, we planted over 3,000 trees four years ago, with the aim of creating an edible forest. Today,you can pick berries and small fruits, but the majority of edible products are leaves," smiles Thomas Parnaud. "All the foliage of the trees planted here can be eaten," he assures us. In 2023, at Georges, customers were treated to a dish of roasted sweetbreads with coffee butter, garnished with Tuna leaves."It's still anecdotal, but things are gradually falling into place and it will become more and more a part of our cuisine."