Keen defender of fresh season and local products, involved in a sincere and simple cooking, Chef David Seguin has been in the kitchens of his own restaurant, l’Adress at Bessines, close to Niort, for several years. Originates to Ardin, a small village located at few kilometers from our dairy cooperative, he has selected our PDO (AOP) Charentes Poitou butter as well as our other products for the preparation of his dishes. Sharing our commitment to our terroir, the respect of the authenticity and a taste of high quality products, David Seguin is Pamplie’s ambassador, to sublimate the French gastronomy with us.
How is borned your passion for cooking and gastronomy ?
With the smell of the freshly bake bread and buttered cakes from our baker when I was a child. At 12 years old, I used to go with him in his van, for the distribution of the bread. I was putting the baguettes behind the shutters of the customers. I still remember the bread crisping in my hands, its smell in the van ..
And at home, I have started making cakes when I was very young, by greed and for the pleasure of my family. Little by little, I have learnt alone before going to school.
You have to love people, and be passionate to do this job. Cooking is an act of love.
You have to love people and be passionate about doing this job. It is an act of love to cook.
From the family kitchen to your gastronomic restaurant l’Adress close to Niort, what is your background before ? your experiences ? which events have made the Chef you are today ?
At 15 years old, I have studied at the hotel school of Noirmoutier, and after I have obtained my professional baccalaureat in Poitiers. Then, I have worked in several French restaurants for 15 years, in Michelin starred restaurants such as La Maison Lameloise, in Bourgogne with Chef Jacques Lameloisse. I have learnt about rigor, discipline, beauty of the products, intensity of flavours. For any cook, this is almost an achievement, the ultimate goal, the grail.
But I have also learnt a lot of my experiences in other restaurants, less prestigious. The brigades are smaller, you can do everything, and you learn how not to thrown away.
These different experiences allow you to see various working methods, ways of being, different products. You make yourself by your experiences, by what you want to keep or not.
How would you describe your cooking ?
At first, I like to cook season’s products. This is a leitmotiv. I am always happy to see the arrival of new products but I also like to change at the end of each season, and cook new ones and other things.
In the restaurant, I respect 3 principles : fresh products, a seasonal cuisine and affordable prices. For that, you don’t have to cook meat every day. Even our grand-parents did not cook like that.
I like to cook simple dishes, to which I bring small details or things, that you don’t see, and they will emphasize them. .. like a broth to bring a particular flavor to the soup. And the broth will be prepared with the vegetables peels like our grand- mothers did.
We must stop being spoilt children, .. to consume responsibly, to respect the seaons, to use all food which can be used, and not wasting water..
You are discreet in this ecological approach, would you please let us know more ?
This is important to be more respectful of our environment and our ressources for our children. At the restaurant, this is simple, we use as much as possible the products. I was talking about the vegetables peels to make a broth, but also the bones and the poultry carcasses to make all our sauces. The water used to wash the vegetables, is also used in watering plants.
I am also paying attention to work with local producers : the cheeses from Ardin, the poultries from Renard Rouge .. obviously, I am not against to work some products that we don’t find locally, like the lemons, the Tonka beans, the tea from Japan, which remain significant to make a gastronomic and gourmet cooking.
And what about the products, what is your flagship ingredient ?
With no hesitation, the butter !!! When I started, most of the chefs only preferred olive and ghee. I still have preferred the butter, this is my terroir, my heritage.
There is something pleasant. At the restaurants, when the guests sit down at a table, there are always bread and butter, they can share with a small toast. It is good and simple, everyone is equal.
I tend to cook very purely, to get to point to make my dishes more sober and clearer. We try to have fun with all the team, to reinvent ourselves, and to surprise our customers. Here, Pamplie butte plays a significant role because it is great to use it. And its unique taste, fresh .. we smell all the Gatine terroir
At home, the butter was every day on the table, when I was a child. This is a strong marker of my childhood. It is part of my DNA.