A pure juice cook
He's got heels, he's got a grip and he doesn't let it count. Marc Delamotte, administrator of the French cooks, also has a big smile and a big heart like that. He is now at the head of the Bistrots family kitchens, which includes restaurants at Chez Lulu. Beautiful, good, and authentic French bistro. Some recipes come from her grandmother's cook, Lucienne. Lulu's, then.
Unknowable! This former Courtepaille received a magic wand. Or a lot of work. The famous circular shape of this old grilled chain has been preserved. But, that's all. For the rest, the restaurant Chez Lulu, in Orgeval (Yvelines), has transformed the place. Large bright and welcoming space, parquet flooring, wooden tables, benches with red cushions, shelves decorated with old scales, wallpaper like Jouy canvas... the last of the restaurants Chez Lulu, opened in February 2024, is ultra friendly and totally joyful. In times, it can't hurt. Marc Delamotte and his partner, Eric Khodja, smile. These two are « Brothers of Heart», as they say, and today at the head of the Bistrots family entity, which have five settlements and a concession to the St. Cloud racetrack.
A great way for this cook and entrepreneur who met at the hotel school in Dijon. A long time ago. Love on your plates In Orgeval, Rueil-Malmaison or Saint-Germain-en-Laye, the three Chez Lulu restaurants are of the same vein, respecting the same codes and, above all, the same credo: « Love on your plates ». If a slate displays the menu of the day specific to each Lulu, all have an identical card, renewed every three months, but with its unbeatable: crusted pie (12 €), frog legs (12 €), duck foie gras (17.50) €), pressed lamb confit (21 €), cream cutlery (16.50 €), traditional pot-au-feu (21 €) or vegetarian (16 €) or kidneys of the chief (18 €). And to finish and put on until then, burnt cream, tart Tatin or enjoy chocolate. A festival of these dishes of our grandmothers with the flavors of the brasseries d的antan, which comfort and which, very popular today, completely care about the fashions! In short, an offer «Without chicky pan»claims Marc Delamotte, a straight chef in his garden boots whose DNA is: « A product, vegetable, juice.» The third-party winner of a canary cuisine that loves this Decizian almost born in a gastro.
Four generations of restaurateurs « My rattles were a prick and a whip! », barely joking this son of hotel restaurants in Saint-Honoré-les-Bains, spa in the Nièvre. Four generations worked at the Hôtel du Centre, a Logis de France. «My parents run the establishment, my grandmother, Lucienne, and my grandmother, Andrée, were in the ovens.», says Marc Delamotte. He grew up in this environment before joining in 1994, in Dijon, the Lycée Saint-Bénigne for a technical hotel ferry in three years, during which he also passed CAP and BEP cuisine as a free candidate. He cites two of his teachers, Messrs. Royer and Guillaumin, to whom he is very grateful for the teaching and the values they have instilled in him. The bachelor then followed professional experiences, as at Château de Chailly, a starry in Burgundy, with chef David Plet: « My first gourmet experience. I learn how to organize a brigade and the work of vegetable gardens. The vegetable for the vegetable was a precursor! » A friend, a real friend In 1999 Marc Delamotte took up the position of chef at Brasserie du Théâtre in Moulins, Allier, before joining, in 2000, the family establishment in Saint-Honoré-les-Bains: « My great aunt was sick. I'm back in the kitchen for the season...». In the end, more than ten years will remain to fight to keep afloat «that big ship in the middle of the country». The many crises, economics, of thermalism come at the end of the energy of this hard worker who throws sponge in 2013. «I'm going back from scratch!», concedes, modesty, this great fellow just admitting that, yes, it wasn't going very well. And here, in the panade, we recognize his friends. It will be enough for one, a friend, a true one, a faithful who, having become a Franciscan, will visit his friend regularly all these years. Éric Khodja, the brother of heart, thus rushes to the rescue and does not fear: «Now you're coming to Paris». Eric's grandmother was called Lucie, called Lulu. Two grandmothers who call themselves Lulu... The occasion makes the larrons! Their Chez Lulu opened its doors in Rueil-Malmaison in 2014. Chouette déco, ambience with small onions, good wine and cuisine «The one I love!», insists Marc Delamotte, are at the meeting of the first restaurant of this duo. «The sauce takes it right away», smile the two associates who, if they knew each other well, nevertheless had to learn to tame professionally, are today at the head of five establishments.
The famous steak with pepper
In 2023, Éric Khodja and Marc Delamotte created the Bistrots brand of families that combine their restaurants with common identity and know-how. The clientele is at the rendezvous of these warm bistros where, among other things, the famous pepper steak, homemade fries, made furious: « It is a very popular dish and, in particular, by many children who demand it from their parents!», proudly tells Eric. What's the special about this steak? « He's my way! The recipe is inspired by my grandmother's and... she's secret! », explains the Chief, Ambassador of Charolais. We won't know more. In a difficult international context, both partners remain confident. Keep the side « family » of their restaurants, buffing their customers, remaining grouped and welded with their teams and suppliers and continuing to respond to tenders are the main lines they set themselves. « We're optimistic! We have to be», concludes Marc Delamotte. This pure juice chef who, too proud, still surprises: « It's amazing! I arrived a little over ten years ago in Paris... Never would I have imagined being administrator of the French cooks Hey! » The French cooks Nice to welcome him.
Valérie Bouvart – The Revue Culinaire n°953
