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Hymn to the Terroir 


Chef Cyril Attrazic works close to the seasons at his eponymous restaurant.

The chef's eponymous restaurant, Cyril Attrazic

“We have all we need for we have a unique terroir,” Cyril Attrazic and his wife Karine explain from the heart of Aubrac, Lozère, a remote high plateau halfway between Clermont-Ferrand and Montpellier, where they run the eponymous restaurant, Cyril Attrazic. 

“We work close to nature and the seasons; there are no tricks, just hard work. We are surrounded by incredible landscapes and wilderness. Here resources are scarce: we need to adapt to them, and not the other way around. We rely on a close network of trusted producers for here, everything is based on trust,” says Cyril.  

And that has very much been the case for three generations now. Linette, the chef’s grandmother who wanted to grow old surrounded by her two children and grandchildren, bought a hectare of land to build a hotel and a restaurant.  

A take on local sheep’s cheese served with a beurre noisette and young pine-tree needles.

Owned by Cyril and his cousin today, it is has now become the cornerstone of the Aumont-Aubrac’s village life with a hotel, a celebrated gastronomic restaurant, a gourmet brasserie called Le Gabale and a local village café — naturally named after Linette. 

Since then, life hasn’t changed much and respecting the pace of nature and the seasons is fundamental: a rule Cyril applies daily. For example, to naturally preserve what is in season for later during the year, the chef oxidizes (using an autoclave set on 65 degrees for two months) and pickles many ingredients. 

Egg in the egg is a recipe in which the centre of an egg is recreated using local fish roe. 

“I found a way to transform fresh garlic into black garlic using this technique; I transform lemons, artichokes and Jerusalem artichokes the same way. I always keep something in the autoclave to maximise its use, which leads to countless experiments. If I lived in Provence, of course, I’d cook differently — and would need to resort to less creative tricks — for much is available all year round,” says Cyril. 

On the tasting menu, a small tartelette with fresh and oxidised Jerusalem artichoke and fresh local wild black truffle (from the Gorges du Tarn) stands out as a unique seasonal delicacy. Throughout the menu, tastes and flavors are always natural. Cyril and his team forage every day, pick elderflowers or rose petals in season and ferment them to flower the plates later in the year. They also harvest birch water to glaze poultry and give it a caramelised touch; work with unripe fruits and berries to add acidity; and smoke local fish bones to create a unique dashi. 

Chef Cyril Attrazic

His green Michelin star, Cyril says, is owed to his way of working in tune with the seasons. For three years now, the chef and Karine’s cousin have looked after their own heard of cows: bred consciously and in small numbers in the vast outdoors, they enjoy a balanced diet and are fed daily with cod-liver oil, linen and rapeseed oil (all rich in Omega 3 and 6) to make sure they stay in great health.  

“We genuinely care for our animals and put great effort into using the whole animal in our different kitchens. The most noble cuts are saved for the gastronomic table while the lesser parts are turned into pâtés, bolognaise sauce or even into a traditional boeuf bourguignon in the local café,” he explains. At the chef’s table, Cyril serves a signature dish called Terre d’Aubrac: a bed of silky milk panna cotta welcomes black garlic and (what looks like) a soil of dehydrated beef covered in flowers. It simply tastes like walking outdoors; rightly so, the Michelin guide mentioned a “hymn to the terroir”. And this is what Cyril Attrazic’s cuisine is all about. 

 www.cyrilattrazic.fr/restaurant-gastronomique 

This article originally appeared in Billionaire's Healing Issue, Winter 2022/23. To subscribe contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.