Tabata et Ludovic Mey, chefs de file

Neither of you are originally from Lyon, but you are now well-known figures here. What is your first memory of the city?

Ludovic Mey : It’s linked to Christian Têtedoie’s restaurant. I’m from Chambéry, in Savoie, and I left to work in Paris after graduating from hotel management school. I lived there for one year... and I hated it! I was planning to return to my region, when my uncle introduced me to Christian Têtedoie and I started working at his restaurant. At that time, working in the kitchens, I met Arnaud
Laverdin (La Bijouterie, Sapna, Mr Baoshi), Louis Fargeton (L’Etabli), Jérémy Lemaître (Lyon Gastro’s Pub), Noé Saillard (Sapna)
and Alexis Lauriac (Le Tiroir), who have remained firm friend.

Tabata Mey : I’m from Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, and I came to Lyon to study at the Institut Paul Bocuse, in Écully. In my second year, I worked as a trainee at Nicolas le Bec’s restaurant. I ended up staying for more than six years. After that, I opened my first Japanese concept restaurant, then Monsieur Paul (Editor’s note: an affectionate name for the late, great Paul Bocuse) offered me a chance to take the reins of the restaurant Marguerite, which he was opening in Lyon’s 8th district. It was there that I met Ludovic, who was my sous-chef.

Back then, in 2013, you were the first woman to head up a Paul Bocuse restaurant. The adventure lasted just over a year and you then left together for a culinary trip around the world...

T.M.: We had a single goal in mind when we left Marguerite: to open our own restaurant together. Before that, however, we thought it would be amazing to seek inspiration by experiencing food from around the world.

L.M.: We began with Brazil. It’s Tabata’s country of birth, so it was important for me to get to know it. We went to visit Alex Atala in São Paulo, who Tabata had worked with before, and then Thiago Castanho in the Amazon region.

T.M.: We then changed hemispheres, leaving for Noma, René Redzepi’s restaurant, in Copenhagen, Denmark. This is a country we have always loved, whose food culture resonates with us and has found its way into our cuisine.

Following your travels, you returned to Lyon. Was it always clear that you’d come back?

L.M.: Yes. Not only do we have our friends and connections here, but Lyon is a major city for gastronomy.

T.M.: It’s a city that’s big and small at once, almost like a village, in that we all know each other. There are upsides and downsides.

© Susie Waroude

Is it harder to establish yourself here than in Paris?

T.M.: It’s different. Customer flows are not the same. In Paris, you can open anywhere and it will work. In Lyon, if you choose the wrong location, then it’s all over. Also, Lyon has a really special relationship with restaurants. Everything is
an excuse to eat out: a baptism, a wedding, a birthday, a new contract... “Are
you feeling down? Come on, let’s go for a meal!” It’s crazy and that’s why we love
it here. Lyon is a city of gastronomy and the Lyonnais are discerning food lovers.

Your gastronomic restaurant, Les Apothicaires, earned a star in the Michelin Guide in 2020. Was that one of your goals from the outset?

T.M.: No. Our original aim was to offer French cuisine with techniques picked up
from various places.

L.M.: Achieving a star was never an end in itself, but it’s a reward, and a great form of recognition for the teams and us.

In 2020, you opened the food court Food Traboule. How did this project
come about?

L.M.: At the time, we were doing a lot of catering for events, alongside Floriant Rémont, of Le Bistrot du Potager, and Hubert Vergoin, of Substrat. We had loads of fun working together, and we would often chat in the wee hours about how great it would be to do something together. During our travels, we saw that there was potential with the new food court format, and that we could involve real chefs, to offer «nomadic cuisine» in a different kind of place. We gradually formed a plan and presented it to our friends in the restaurant business. They came on board and, cherry on the cake, we were able to locate it at La Tour Rose.

The opening of your food court was eagerly awaited...

T.M.: Yes, there was a lot of buzz surrounding it... unfortunately, everything had to close down a couple of months later (laughs). I think Food Traboule is in phase with consumers’ expectations today and new ways of enjoying food.

In recent months, you have both been separately involved in helping others with their careers. Ludovic you are jointly running the ‘Service Compris’ food incubator in Lyon. Could you tell us about it?

L.M.: The aim is to mentor project initiators who are changing their career path. If you want to open a restaurant, you need to move fast. However, people don’t always have the right contacts, particularly when they are embarking on a new career. Along with Mai and Franck Delhoum (founders of Le Bistrot du Potager), as catering professionals, the idea is to support candidates as they build their projects. We’re not here to help them create their menus, but to introduce them to architects, lawyers, kitchen manufacturers, and so on...

Tabata, you are now coaching Naïs Pirollet, the first woman to represent France at the Bocuse d’Or competition...

T.M.: I met Naïs when she was training with the previous French team led by Davy Tissot (Editor’s Note: winner of the last Bocuse d’Or). When she won the qualifications for the French team, she asked me if I would like to be her coach. My role involves various duties. Firstly the cuisine, but that comes very naturally, as Naïs knows exactly which direction she wants to go in. She has a very well developed taste and a clear identity. Then there is the technical side of things, which we will work on together. The other side of the job is to act as a buffer against outside influences. She can do without certain things. I have to try to protect her from all sorts of comments, as far as possible. Then, there are all the partnership and organisational aspects.

These two projects are both focussed on sharing knowledge and experience. Is this a logical next step in your careers?

T.M.: Actually, we do this every day when working in the kitchen. This is generally the case with the chefs of our generation. We are not bothered about sharing our suppliers and even recipes with each other. When we returned from Noma, we explained what we had learned about fermentation to those who asked us about it. There’s no point keeping things to ourselves, because other people will never do them exactly the same way, as they bring their own sensibility and technique. And, even if someone did copy us, because
there are chefs who make it their speciality, I just think that it’s up to us to be even more creative and astute.

Biography

The chefs Tabata and Ludovic Mey, who live and work together in Lyon, have two small boys, a Michelin-starred restaurant in Lyon’s 6th district – Les Apothicaires (known as ‘Les Apo’ to regulars) – and a food court nestled in Vieux-Lyon (Old Lyon): Food Traboule.

Tabata was born in Brazil, in 1978, and has appeared in the French TV show Top Chef. She began studying medicine before abandoning anatomy for gastronomy and coming to France to study at the Institut Paul Bocuse.

Ludovic was born in Savoie, in 1990. He knew that he wanted to be a chef, right from the beginning of secondary school. After working in Chambéry, Paris and Lyon, he joined the team headed up by Tabata at the restaurant Marguerite in 2013.

Following a trip around the world to explore food, the couple opened their restaurant Les Apothicaires in 2016, followed by Food Traboule in 2020. That year, they were awarded their first star in the Michelin Guide.

Tabata adress book

“I often come here, at lunchtime, after work, with the kids. I’m always here actually! You can find salads and sandwiches with proper vegetarian options. It’s really good, I love it here.”

“I’ve been coming here for four years. I do ashtanga yoga and studios with qualified instructors are hard to find in France. Aurélie is one of them.”

“We go there a lot because Antoine, our eldest son, loves cycling here. There are loads of play areas for kids. In the summer there are the paddling pools with fountains, which he is crazy about! When the weather’s nice, we go to have chips at Star Ferry. Mum and Dad have a beer, and Antoine has a cordial.”

Ludovic adress book

“Formerly known as ‘La Bijouterie’, this is a place I like to come to spend happy moments with friends, where we enjoy the creative dishes and good wine.”

“As a native of Savoie, the mountains and nature have always been a big part of my life. Whenever I get a chance, I ride my bike in the Monts du Lyonnais. It’s the perfect place to disconnect and recharge your batteries!”.

“This is a hybrid venue where you can party, see concerts or just have a drink. The atmosphere is welcoming and fun, and the musical offering is varied. What’s more, it has a really nice rooftop space.”