The gourmet break with Hubert Giblet*
L’Evidence is one of Touraine’s top restaurants. The proof is that the restaurant in Montbazon has had a Michelin star since 2019. And its chef, Gaëtan Evrard, is teeming with creativity, which he combines with an incredible technical skill.
The Chef proclaims an instinctive approach to cuisine!
Gaëtan Evrard is not the kind of chef who comes up with a menu filled with hallmark or standard dishes all through the year… Quite the reverse! His cuisine is lived and made with the seasons – or rather the present moment, I should say, when the ingredients are at their best. It results from his encounters with farmers, his choice of top-quality ingredients… and his mood at the time!
So in his restaurant, L’Evidence, there is no “real” menu, just “blank” menus! You can choose between the Inspiration menu, with 5 “moments”, Elégance, with 6 moments and Signature, with 8 moments… At lunchtime during the week, there is also an Instinct menu, an appetiser and 2 or 3 courses!
When you glance at the menu, the dishes seem to be quite enigmatic. For example, currently the Inspiration menu features Homage to my Grandparents, Spring, Interlude, Ocean Spray, Apis and Alexander Calder!!! So after explaining any food intolerances, you will just have to trust the Chef! But believe me, you can do so with your eyes closed.
A subtle blend of flavours
Exquisite desserts
Gaëtan Evrard's cellar
An explosion of flavours and a real spectacle on the plate
Meticulous presentation
Each dish, however ephemeral it might be, is prepared with total mastery: ingredients combined in a sometimes daring and surprising way, with subtly matched flavours; perfect timing; sauces, gravy or condiments of great finesse and all impeccably presented…
Here’s a little secret. As I write these lines, peas have pride of place in the Chef Gaëtan Evrard’s new creation “Le Printemps” (“Spring”), served as a first course in his various menus. The small, sweet and crunchy spring peas are grown by his friends in Le Puy-Notre-Dame farm, “Un Cheval Un Champ” (49). They inspired the chef, who serves them for the occasion with courgettes, Arctic char, smoked mackerel and floral elements. Tempting, don’t you think?
A “reasonable” Chef teeming with ideas
For anyone who knows him, Gaëtan Evrard is a very likeable character. He is full of ideas and can do it all. In the photo below, he is carrying a fairly traditional pastry-sealed pot containing wonderfully prepared Racan poultry (pure produce of Touraine). But his mind is always alert and ready to imagine a dish that has never been made before…
Even if it means breaking the rules. For the summer, he is planning to serve totally delicious picnics to enjoy on the banks of the nearby River Indre (on a picnic blanket he will be providing) and served in bentos, the Japanese lunch boxes.
So is Gaëtan Evrard really a reasonable chef? Yes, absolutely, and totally a man of his time. Always on the lookout for short food supply chains, he works with many local producers and farmers, and has even launched his own products, including his own beer, wine and honey… He is planning to create a 100% Indre Valley menu, with food supplied from within a radius of 10 km of his restaurant.
A tip about L’Evidence to end with
When you book your table (and I know you will!), give yourself a treat and opt for a menu with 6 or 8 “moments”. I guarantee an exceptional experience to savour and explore…
L’Evidence
1 Place des Marronniers – 37250 MONTBAZON
02 47 26 00 67 / contact@restaurant-levidence.com
http://www.restaurant-levidence.com/
www.facebook.com/gaetanevrardrestaurantlevidence
Open from Tuesday to Saturday, closed on Wednesday evenings
* Hubert Giblet, gourmet and food-lover, is head of the Automnales Gastronomy Festival in the Azay-Chinon Val de Loire Tourist Office