He is undoubtedly the most respected practicing French chef among his peers. Pierre Gagnaire has been inventing and developing haute cuisine for thirty years, making it more legible, lighter, without ever falling into austerity. His arrival in Aix-en-Provence at the helm of the restaurant of the 5-star hotel Villa Saint-Ange is therefore a small event for regional catering.
As he did recently in Nîmes at the Maison Albar hotel and its Duende table, the 72-year-old chef will in fact remain in the kitchens of his three-star Parisian restaurant and will coordinate the cuisines and menu of the Ama Terra Aixois. from a distance, by installing, in addition, a dedicated brigade, led by an executive chef chosen from among his relatives, in the person of Jean-Denis Le Bras, a cook who worked at the pianos of the Mandarin Oriental in Hong Kong (he will glean two stars) and La Grande Maison by Bordeaux wine tycoon Bernard Magrez. “The notion of team is essential and I am very attentive to itexplains Pierre Gagnaire. I imagine, I design, I give impetus and those who surround me every day, translate, build, with their know-how. Because a dish must be good. And ‘being good’ means opening the field of emotions.”
Established since 2019 in a former 18th century private mansion, the Villa Saint-Ange is the property of Gardan businessman Jean-Brice Garella, already at the head of the Hôtel des Quatre-Dauphins, in the Mazarin district. . From the outset, Saint-Ange had joined a gastronomic table led until recently by the young chef Nadine Serret.
Restaurant Ama Terra, within the Villa Saint-Ange, 7 crosses Saint-Pierre in Aix-en-Provence (Bouches-du-Rhône), 04 42 95 10 10 or https://villasaintange.com/
