However, the entrepreneur initially had nothing to do with the restoration. His primary vocation is photography, learned as an autodidact by immortalizing tourists skiing in Val-d’Isère or on the beach in Deauville. In 1992, an opportunity arose on the Ile de Ré and after one season, “Phil Good” by his nickname, found himself at the helm of Incognito.
Emmaus decoration
At a time when Incognito is skating, the adventurer with northern origins finds a concept that he does not know in Saint-Martin: an oyster bar. “When we go to the restaurant and order a dozen and nothing else, we are looked at strangely, we have to take a bottle to justify the bill,” laments the boss with his thin smile. In 2013, after touring the Emmaüs in the region to collect a few checkered tablecloths and wooden chairs, Le Tout du Cru opened its doors.
Incognito had other stalls in Ars or La Flotte, which are now closed
Paul Lonceint-Spinelli
“This conviviality and the authenticity of what we have on the plate, that corresponds to Philippe”
Geoffroy de la Crouée, former elected official of the town, has been coming as a regular six to 12 times a year since the beginning: “when it opened, it was the only place where you could eat good oysters, and few have such quality on duty. With a secret ingredient, the 275 songs from his playlist. “These songs rocked my childhood, they go on repeat. The employees are a little freaked out, ”laughs the boss. Cyril Andrieux, his former insurer and now friend, fell in love with the concept and became his partner in La Rochelle and Bordeaux: “this conviviality and the authenticity of what we have on the plate, that corresponds to Philippe. »
King of counterpeteries
For the name, the manager was inspired by an establishment in the Clermont region, even if he insists on the “cru” in the sense of the terroir. The contrepèteries have become his trademark. The title of the eight companies he owns today is. Laughing in a low voice, the manager, cheeks rosy in the heat, likes to list them: “My lawyer found the last one, La Poule qui Mue, for our central purchasing office. »
