Le Pré - Xavier Beaudiment
Clermont-Ferrand, France
⭐2 Stars
The Experience
From Michelin Guide
The Auvergne I want to present to you is the one we harvest every morning in our mountains, meadows and forests. The proclamations of Xavier Beaudiment, who comes from the region, are no empty words. Le Pré is the epitome of simplicity – the chef's recipes use pork, eggs or peas, which may not be ingredients that make your mouth water, but he lovingly crafts them to draw out their flavour. Let yourself be swept along by this instinctive cuisine that is moulded into poetic-sounding set menus that pay homage to his terroir. His dishes also involve the 200 plants and wild herbs that grow in the shelter of the volcanoes. A superb wine list accompanies you on this culinary adventure.
Unique Things
From Visitor Experiences
Here are three unique and unconventional aspects of the Michelin-starred restaurant Le Pré - Xavier Beaudiment in Clermont-Ferrand:
1. Emphasis on Simple, Humble Ingredients
Le Pré is noted for its culinary philosophy that elevates simple, everyday ingredients such as pork, eggs, and peas into refined dishes. Chef Xavier Beaudiment crafts these humble components with great care and creativity, challenging the notion that only luxurious ingredients can create exceptional cuisine.
2. Use of Wild Plants and Herbs from the Surrounding Nature
The chef draws inspiration directly from the local environment—undergrowth, fields, mountains, and forests around the restaurant provide wild plants and herbs that are incorporated into the menu. This connection to nature and foraging adds a distinctive freshness and authenticity to the dining experience.
3. Large, Memorable Portions with Balanced Preparations
Unlike some fine dining establishments that serve very small portions, Le Pré offers generous servings that allow diners to fully appreciate and remember each dish. The preparations are carefully balanced around the main product, ensuring that flavors are harmonious and impactful.
Ingredient Stars
From Visitor Experiences
The most honored or signature ingredients at the Michelin-starred restaurant Le Pré - Xavier Beaudiment in Clermont-Ferrand include:
Slow-cooked egg yolk: Featured in a standout dish paired with smoked potato foam and truffle, the egg yolk provides a rich, creamy texture and acts as a luxurious base that enhances the earthy flavors of the truffle and potato foam.
Truffle: Used to impart an intense, earthy aroma and flavor, truffle is a key ingredient that elevates the dish with the slow-cooked egg yolk, showcasing the chef's affinity for deep, natural tastes.
Local wild herbs, edible leaves, and flowers: Foraged daily from the surrounding mountains, meadows, and forests of Auvergne, these plants form the foundation of the restaurant’s cuisine, reflecting the terroir and the rhythms of nature. They are central to the chef’s philosophy of a "vegetal walk" that reinvents dishes each day.
Seasonal fruits and vegetables from local market gardeners: The produce is chosen according to nature’s tempo, emphasizing freshness and locality, and is the core around which meat and fish become complementary elements rather than main features.
Pork, peas, and eggs: Though simple ingredients, they are treated with care and respect, forming the backbone of many recipes that highlight the purity and authenticity of the region’s flavors.
These ingredients illustrate Chef Xavier Beaudiment’s approach to cuisine at Le Pré: a celebration of Auvergne’s natural bounty, with a focus on wild plants, local produce, and refined simplicity that honors the land and its seasonal rhythms.