December 2003 to November 2005 – Antony Clemot
The Web friend : How did your collaboration with Antoine Westermann begin ?
“With Antoine Westermann there is immediately something extra. I have always had the feeling of being able to push out the envelope with him. This is why I didn’t hesitate when he offered me the opportunity to go to Washington after 3 years at Le Buerehiesel in Strasbourg. An experience without which I wouldn’t have been able to become involved in the Mon Vieil Ami association. Washington was the first time that I was confronted with overseeing the kitchen and staff, with management and independence under the chef’s control.”
The Web friend : What changes when you are a chef at Mon Vieil Ami ?
"I think that nowadays you have to have a global approach to the profession of chef and this is what Mon Vieil Ami gives to a young chef. I think that a chef who stays at the ovens only learns part of his work as he does not know the people who are eating his cooking. At Mon Vieil Ami you become an Innkeeper.”
The Web friend : Do you already miss your Vieil Ami ?
“It’s wonderful at certain times to look back at the path you have travelled. I worked with all my heart to build Mon Vieil Ami, but it is just as fantastic to watch your child fly with his own wings…What’s more, Antoine, Frédéric and I are good friends!”
Since August 2005 – Frédéric Crochet
“I’ve a taste for everything, I like life, meeting people, partying…”
Frédéric Crochet
Frédéric was born 3 May 1979 in Sancerre.
To a family of grape growers, grandfather, uncle, father…
So everyone in the family is a winemaker except him and his parrot Félix.
He obtained his professional chef’s certificate in 1998, and his CAP/BEP catering diploma in 2000.
From 1996 to 1998 he worked in the La Tour restaurant in Sancerre, then for Bernard Loiseau until 2000, and then spent 5 years with Antoine Westermann at Le Buerehiesel in Strasbourg.
The Chat’ friend : What does Mon Vieil Ami allow you to express ?
FC: it’s a bit like having your own company. You have to get to know the customers, customers from all walks of life; it’s enriching from both a personal and professional perspective. The fact that there are no barriers with the dining room gives a young chef the chance to gain a different view of cooking.
The Chat’ friend : What personal touch do you bring to Mon Vieil Ami? ?
FC: every chef is different. I bring my interpretation to Westermann’s creations with, of course, the desire to take it further, for our pleasure and that of the customers. I want to please myself by pleasing the customers.
