Fulgurances
Part revolving-door restaurant, part event agency and born from a chic gastronomy-focused lifestyle magazine which makes you want to dive into its delectable pages and exquisite photography — this dynamic imagining by owners Rebecca Asthalter, Hugo Hivernat and Sophie Coribert ticks all the boxes and is a stylish foodie experience to be savoured with time and gusto when in the City of Light.
French food magazine Fulgurances opened L’Adresse in 2015 as a culinary incubator featuring a rotating cast of guest chefs, and five years later its an established hub for the hungry, well-heeled and culinary adventurous.
Created as a spring-board for new chefs, and named after the word for ‘lightning’ in french (Fulgurances) the reference fits perfectly with this restaurant’s ‘raison d’être’ — the clincher here (and the attraction) is precisely that — there is no fixed chef.
Rather, kitchen masters from across the globe are invited to come and cook up a storm based on their availabilities (sometimes a month and sometimes the better part of a year) — and with each slated guest appearance, they hope to strike their customers with a lightning bolt of joy every time they encounter a new talent and fresh dish.
Needless to say, it’s a total hit. Particularly for those who get bored easily and are always looking for the next fix to titillate their foodie passions and restless imaginations of exotic, rare ingredients, snazzy techniques and new places far and wide.
That ticks all our boxes, so this one is one of our absolute favourites for any day of the week, month or season — it never gets old, and it’s always delicious.
The premise is fairly simple, and extremely heartwarming — it’s all about community here, banding together and sharing the love of food, progression and evolution in all senses of the word.
Past chefs / 2016-2019
Current chef / Alban Chanteloup / January - July 2019
Welcoming young chefs to take over the kitchen in order to find and refine their identity, test their ideas, and learn how to manage a team, before setting off to open their own restaurant, they’ve had everyone from Israeli chef Tamir Nahmias; to Mariana Villegas (a young Mexican chef who previously passed through Cosme and Union Square Café in New York); to their current inter, Alban Chanteloup — whose background includes stints in Australia and Geneva, Switzerland and who they met when he returned to Europe, and became the sous chef at Neptune in Geneva.
***If you are currently a sous chef, on the brink of setting off to open your own restaurant, don’t hesitate to get in touch with them! Perhaps you could be the next resident chef at l’Adresse.***
Aesthetics, style and substance has always been an important part of Fulgurances, and these values are reflected in everything they do, from the food — which is pretty, tasty and immaculately presented and executed; to its bilingual (French and English) magazine— ‘Itinéraires d’une cuisine contemporaine’ (ICC), which combines content with beautiful photography and is a contemplative travel log, offering a subjective overview of contemporary cuisine at a precise moment in time, with a city guide at the end of each issue with a selection of their 10 favorite restaurants in one particular city; to the event agency run in tandem with all the rest — run by a busy team of communicators and operational staff with over 8 years of experience in the culinary events world, as well as a large and international network of chefs.
To boot, there’s also a gorgeous little wine bar with the cutest name and a clever concept across the street to the main restaurant — En Face, where you’ll find little plates and bottles which spin around in a playful manner, shedding light on the talent of its farmers and selected wine-growers, all hand-picked and carefully selected by their expert sommelier Max Tuckwell and curated depending on the seasons and their mood. Magnifique.
To say we have a professional crush on these guys is an absolute understatement — they are the ultimate triple threat, producing great food, content and quality — but we can’t help but love them — a lot. Check them out — it’s truly a wonderful way to spend a lunchtime, sun-drenched afternoon, or a balmy evening with friends or a special someone in need of something different to spice things up — you never know which chef will be on call that month.
Perfect for: Any time you’re in Paris and asking that eternal question: “What should I eat?” Look no further — these guys have you covered and then some. Brilliant idea, perfect execution.
What to order: Whatever the chef suggests! It’s totally his game, and he knows how to play it, for however long he’s in the kitchen and wearing those whites. Go with the flow, and enjoy the experience..
Address : Fulgurances // 10 Rue Alexandre Dumas, 75011, Paris (Google Maps)
En Face // 5 rue Alexandre Dumas, 75011, Paris (Google Maps)
Trading hours: Tuesday-Friday: Lunch // 12:30pm–2pm; Dinner: 7:30pm–10pm
Monday, Saturday & Sunday: CLOSED.
Website: https://fulgurances.com/
Insta: @fulgrances
