Chef André Taormina, Ambroise Michelin starred restaurant in Isère
Angelique and André, common destinies
Angélique, who is younger, lives surrounded by farmers, including a grandmother who is renowned throughout the region for the quality of the produce she offers on the Sanary-sur-Mer market thanks to her renowned she provides directly to some of the biggest Michelin star restaurant in the neighborhood.
André, from the age of 12, has been close to his grandparents, has known the big tables of friends, the hunting returns where we enjoy the simple products in all conviviality.
Marrying the restaurant trades is a no-brainer: Angélique takes advantage of a recommendation for a cooking internship at René Berard’s Cadière d'Azur (1 Michelin star) while André meets, thanks to a family friend, Hervé Quesnel, the chef of La Pinède in Saint-LaurentTropez (2 Michelin stars).
They are both from the Var region – one grew up in Collobrières, the other in Sanary-sur-Mer – of Italian families who naturally knew how to transmit to them strong values linked to the land, to the taste for good things and to the sense of sharing: Angélique and André met at the very beginning of their professional life, never to leave each other.
The meeting
After two and a half years, curious about Clément Bruno’s work in Lorgues, he shows up at his door and gets hired by this chef who likes to tell stories through his dishes.
With him, he also discovered the world of restaurant openings, in Monaco or Saint-Tropez for example, while helping, during his few days of rest, another adventure, that of the San Lazzaro, the restaurant of the Angélique family opened on the Cavet square in Sanary-With his parents and brothers.
After the hotel school, the young man joined the brigade of René Berard and saw his destiny upset.
Here, not content to meet the woman who will become his wife, he finds a godfather, a man inhabited by the sense of transmission, exchanges, and values, enough to inspire him for a long time.
Ambroisie, their cocoon in Isère
Little by little, André invested himself in this house to the point of becoming the chef and hoisting it towards a recognized gastronomic dimension. However, with his young wife, the desire is already to settle down and assert his identity without constraint.
At 23 years old, the adventure is difficult, and the support is rare. To write its story, the couple must leave the South that they cherish so much. Open to all possibilities, André and Angélique spotted a dozen ads across the country and, from their first visit, let themselves be seduced by the potential of the Saint-Didier-de-la-Tour restaurant
There, on this emblematic location of the village, where stood a farm transformed into a bistro then a restaurant, rendezvous of fishermen, friendly place par excellence, the couple understands that he found his new address.
The Chef’s cuisine, in search of emotion
At the Ambroisie restaurant, he breathes a breath of freedom: since he laid down his aprons in this charming setting in Isère in 2004, André has appropriated the places and products of the region, without forgetting Provence and its flavors.
Little by little, his cuisine has been shaped and his culinary identity has become established: this experienced Michelin-starred Chef, sure of his technique, lets himself be guided today by his creativity and the good products to which he is very attached, to compose dishes inspired by a personal experience, a family history, a pleasant memory.
Beautiful stories that this discreet and humble chef tells in every plate, free and creative, reassuring and generous, always guided by the desire to create emotion and moments of gourmet happiness.
Angélique Taormina, hostess
A chef by training, Angélique blossoms in a room where she speaks of her natural hospitality and the pleasure of sharing and exchanging “at home”.
If she combines professionalism and conviviality to create the ideal atmosphere for the tastings of her husband’s dishes, she is also the accomplice of the Chef, at his side every day and always present to advise him when creating a dish, give the idea, suggest, always with kindness.
A fusion relationship and an obvious duo, on which this authentic house rests.
Sharing and transmission: the joy of being together
“Transmission is at the heart of our approach” assure André and Angélique in one voice and this is what makes the strength of this Michelin-starred restaurant in Isère, which knows how to build a solid and dynamic base that allows everyone, in the dining room or in the kitchen, to develop fully and to foster a spirit of family and sincere goodwill.
These great food and hospitality enthusiasts are aware of their mission: to transmit the values and skills, so that the profession lasts, to young professionals who stay as long as it takes at the Ambroisie restaurant, before flying on their own wings.
As a member of the Les Collectionneurs and Maître Cuisiniers de France network, the couple is committed to their daily lives, supporting, training and shaping the talents of the present and those of tomorrow, integrating them into a family home that is friendly and caring.
