The evening spent at the Restaurant Affinité, at 33 rue de Bièvre in Paris, offered us the perfect opportunity to discover the exquisite, delicious cuisine of Chef Thibault Loubersanes, paired with a selection of champagnes from La Maison Bruno Paillard.

The Chef

An incredibly talented young chef and new member of the Chaîne, Thibault Loubersanes runs the kitchen at the Restaurant Affinité, which opened just over a year ago, and has already been named “Best Bistro of the year” by the Lebey Guide as well as receiving two Gault Millau toques.

Imbued with the fantastic memories of his grandfather, a baker, who would deliver his bread to the Restaurant des Frères Troisgros, Thibault Loubersanes was interested in cooking from a very early age.

After extensive training at some prestigious establishments in Lyon, the young man caught the attention of Chef Cyril Lignac in Paris, with whom he was to create his first menu.

Keen to hone his meticulousness, technique, precision, diligence and consistency, he decided to work along Michelin-starred Chef and member of the Chaîne, Toshitaka Omiya. Omiya immediately recognised all the talent of an incredibly gifted chef in his young apprentice.

Chef Toshitaka Omiya and his associate, Shawn Joyeux, decided to entrust Thibault Loubersanes with the task of running the Restaurant Affinité, where this future leading chef, to our great delight, is now in control, with all of his talent and contagious good humour.

ACT I

Gougère

Marinated smoked salmon hot dog

Smoked potatoes
charcoal onion, trout roe

Bruno Paillard Première cuvée Extra Brut

ACT II

Octopus, peas, grapefruit
Bruno Paillard Rosé Extra Brut

ACT III

Skate
cabbage cooked in champagne, seaweed flakes
Bruno Paillard Blanc de blanc Grand Cru Extra Brut

ACT IV

Smoked apricot, rosemary, almond
Nec Plus Ultra “NPU” Extra Brut 2004

The Champagne

Born into a family of winemakers and bottle brokers, Bruno Paillard launched his brand in 1981, with a keen desire to produce a really unusual Champagne.

Working with his daughter, Alice, he takes a philosophical approach to wine, always striving for quality, like with his vines, grown exclusively using sustainable methods, a style of viticulture that embraces the principles of an organic approach, without the certification. He works his vines so that the roots penetrate the soil deeply to find all the minerals of this exceptional terroir.

His bottles are aged for between 2 and 4 times longer than required for Champagne, and for as long as 15 years for his “NPU” - Nec Plus Ultra - which we were lucky enough to savour at the end of the meal.

His “Extra Brut” is reduced to the absolute minimum, so that the purity of the wines can be respected, and then they are aged in the cellar, after they are disgorged at between 5 and 18 months, depending on the vintage.

Faithful to his motto, “Champagne should be served, not exploited”, Bruno Paillard has been appointed as a director of the Union des Maisons de Champagne, and also leads the “quality” commission for the “Champagne 2030” project.

We were delighted to be able to savour some of the different vintages of this label that we have heard so much about.

Laurent Poultier du Mesnil
Bailli Délégué