Manon Fleury. “I never negotiate the prices set by the manufacturers”

It is a cool spring morning. Chef Manon Fleury, who has just been awarded a Michelin star for his Datil restaurant in Paris, left his kitchen for a few hours to discuss vegetables, leaves and flowers with one of his suppliers, Erwan Humbert; residential area in Longpont-sur-Orge, Essonne. To navigate the paths planted with chard, carrots, peas and aromatic herbs, Manon wore plastic hemp clogs, made in France. A gesture that symbolizes his approach well. Because for him, local sourcing and connection with nature have become central to his way of working.

At Mermoz, where he rose to prominence in 2018, he began to establish direct links with his producers, particularly market gardener Xavier Fender in Saint-Etienne. He met Ervan in detention. “It was Sujio Yamaguchi, then head of botany in Paris, who put me in touch with Erwan. I went to see him several times and we started collaborating during my stay at Perchoir Ménilmontant and Chalet des Îles. We even held workshops on his farm for his Amapiens, members of peasant agriculture conservation associations,” says Manon. At Datil, the connection has been strengthened, as with other producers: Javier Fender, always, but also Yannick Colombier, an arborist in Tarn-et-Garonne, Mathieu Vessières, who produces citrus fruit near Perpignan, Jean-Marie Pedro, a seaweed collector in Brittany. …

“We wouldn’t cook the same way if we didn’t know our suppliers so well,” insists the chef, who also organized his colleagues’ tour for the kitchen teams. They can’t supply us with perfectly sized products, and we sometimes have to handle quantity issues. A restaurant that puts a vegetable at the center of the plate like ours requires a lot of volume… So recently we imagined a dish around chard, which is abundant in Ile-de-France and we don’t have it. after all it wasn’t enough. So we had to reinvent the plate with bok choy while we waited to eat again.”

While Manon respects the dangers associated with market gardening, she doesn’t shy away from discussing quality. “On the other hand, I never negotiate on the prices set by the producers. This is our philosophy and it goes hand in hand with a long term commitment. We are not the only restaurant that operates this way. It’s great to see more and more young chefs sharing the same approach.”

Take care of the earth

This loyalty is a real support for manufacturers. Erwan Humbert took a risk to revive “dead” land that had been brutalized by intensive ploughing. When she set up shop in 2012, she wasn’t sure she would take on the challenge of fully organic market gardening, on living soil, respecting biodiversity. But this former electronics journalist, who was able to train by learning his skills on a neighboring farm, was able to take care of the land to make it produce the best it could. Better yet, which attracts many Parisian restaurants.

“It’s still stressful to send products to people who are doing great things. Fortunately, I work with Sarah Delfour, who is in charge of restaurant operations. He unblocked me. Under his leadership, we reorganized the 5,000 square meters of the farm around three gardens and greenhouses, which allow us to manage an increasingly complex climate, Erwan explains. Because we need to achieve optimal quality and regularity. We are aware that it is not easy for restaurateurs to juggle vegetables, the production of which is not always sustainable. They are our main customers today and we are very lucky. However, I do not forget that I created a farm to feed people and that I was able to establish myself thanks to Amap.”

So Erwan Humbert continues to make baskets. Passionate about cooking and flowers, she sometimes slips in the leaves of an ungrown turnip. Leaves Manon scrambling and which seems to inspire her. “What if we did something about it?” Seeing Lauren’s excitement, we can feel her sharing this intense creativity around plants. “Our choice requires flexibility, of course, and an open mind. However, I don’t want to cut down on this nimbleness of my cooking. Above all, I’m looking for poetry.” Ervan’s farm also has poetry. Multicolored tulips grow in front of greenhouses, curious goats chew on weeds, and blossoming fruit trees rustle in the breeze. Among them, two small Datil plum trees, which Ervan planted in Manon’s honor… And which will undoubtedly grow in harmony with their relationship.

Datil, 13, rue des Gravilliers, 75003 Paris. datil-restaurant.fr: