Hélène Darroze

About Hélène Darroze

«I am the fourth generation of a family of cooks, and gastronomy is the opportunity for my collaborators and me to do everything we can to bring pleasure: for me, cooking is living, and living is cooking. Above all, I try to reconnect with the instinct and emotion that are dear to me, and thus offer you a cuisine true to my sensitivity and my daily life. Emotion is the starting point, authenticity is the guiding thread, creativity remains the means of expression. I was born in the Landes, in Villeneuve de Marsan. The South-West? Those are my roots. My name, my family, my terroir… I am made of traditions, I draw nourishment from the education that three generations of cooks have instilled in me, and I respect with great humility what the land of my ancestors has bequeathed to me. For me, the South-West extends from Charentes to the Spanish Basque Country, passing through Périgord and Toulouse, playing with the borders of Languedoc. It is in this region that the art of good eating was instilled in me, but also that of good hosting, good sharing… the art of simply living well. An atypical journey After university studies and a diploma from the Bordeaux Business School, I joined Alain Ducasse’s teams at the prestigious Louis XV in Monaco. After 3 years of collaboration, the great chef encourages me to step to the other side of the stove: «Trust me, I have observed you, get into the kitchen. Besides, there is a place to be filled by a woman». My destiny is set! In 1995, my father generously handed me the keys to the family Relais & Châteaux kitchen in Villeneuve-de-Marsan. I choose to highlight the lessons learned from my ancestors: respect for products, the taste for good things, and well-done work. I will stay in the family home for 4 years, the time to refine my skills as a cook.» In addition to her Business School diploma, Hélène Darroze received the Award for «Young Chef of the Year» in 1995 from the Champérard Guide and the «Grand of Tomorrow» Award in 1996 from Gault-Millau. In 1996, she was notably responsible for catering for the meeting of heads of state Jacques Chirac and Helmut Kohl in Périgueux. The President of the French Republic sent her his congratulations on this occasion. The opening of her Parisian restaurant was a success, as within less than a year she earned her first star in the Michelin Guide and a second two years later. Although she lost this one in 2010, she earned another second star with The Connaught in 2011, a London restaurant she was invited to manage in 2008.