Chef David Toutain launches his first soft-pairing

Zero alcohol is a must on the menu of starred tables.

If the ultra-creative Chef David Toutain continues to focus on his unique gastronomic table, it is to better develop his permaculture garden located not far from Honfleur. The opportunity also to develop its House and its cuisine - skilfully guided by the raw and the land - today with the launch of a soft-pairing composed of kombuchas, extractions, maturations, cold infusions, juices, fermentations, waters, teas, decoctions... While these alcohol-free pairings were first developed in countries less historically attached to a wine culture than France, this creativity is not shunned by customers, quite the contrary. It seduces both by the multiplicity of tastes capable of stretching the complexity of a dish, and by the fact of not saturating the taste buds.

A sommelier experience in symbiosis with the kitchen

In his eponymous restaurant with a mineral decor, this son of workers and grandson of a farmer who was destined to work the land, scenography since December 2013 "a creative cuisine drawing its roots from the heart of plants and sublimating its hidden flavors" . Vegetables, flowers and rare herbs rub shoulders with seafood and meat, rigorously selected in an approach that is always sustainable. Vegetal, herbaceous, floral, marine, tightrope walker, David Toutain's cuisine is made up of original combinations and gourmet opposites.
Since December 2020, David Toutain and Head Sommelier Fabien Vullion have been working together to offer their guests a sommelier experience in symbiosis with cuisine, linked to the cycles of nature. Since the start of the school year in January 2023, the duo has been offering a unique food & non-alcoholic beverage pairing, like a new look at the Chef's cuisine, a turn towards creative sommelier work, off the beaten track. "Being a sommelier today also means knowing how to break away from wine, and more broadly from alcoholic pairings, in order to be able to offer alcohol-free pairings. An approach that may seem contradictory, but which meets a growing demand from customers" .

Fermentations, infusions, extractions... Ancestral techniques

Developing these pairings to the same level of requirement means offering guests who choose a non-alcoholic pairing the possibility of benefiting from the same pleasure, the same level of excellence. The soft drinks are worked in such a way that they are as close as possible to the grape varieties, in all their complexity. Fermentations, infusions, extractions... Ancestral techniques at the service of an aromatic palette of great complexity. An approach closely linked with the kitchen and the vegetable garden, a way of recycling in the glass what cannot be exploited on the plate.

A recipe based on aromatic herbs

Naturally in osmosis with the Chef's aromatic palette, the new pairings by the glass are reworked every day according to the maturity of each bottle. An alternative accord full of lightness and surprises, based on aromatic herbs, roots, leaves, flowers, plants, vegetables, fruits, seeds, unearthed each season in the Norman family garden. Inspired by the know-how of different cultures around the world, plants from our gardens and natural fermentation methods, these non-alcoholic pairings have been imagined with the desire to find the textures, colors and complexities of wines, enhancing each dish. .

A cold infusion based on buckwheat and bergamot to sublimate whelks and romanesco and many others

Thus we find for example a cold infusion based on buckwheat and bergamot to sublimate bulot and romanesco; an albedo-infused kombucha paired with chicory fish; a douglas fir bud water to accompany the lobster; a creation of spelled and milk froth to accompany the counted cheese; or even for dessert, an extraction of quince pips and peelings, honey and saffron. The benefits of nature right down to the glass for a tailor-made taste experience. David Toutain, whose cuisine is skilfully guided by the raw and the land, has decided to bring a new dimension to his menu here. A new journey to discover now. 

Would be a perfect fit fpr the fantastic event, Food Influencers Awards.