“Les Prés d’Eugénie is a magical, romantic, rural, gastronomic address for everyone. But, for my sister and me, it was above all the place where our parents worked. We grew up like all the children of hoteliers and restaurateurs: we dined with them “on New Year’s Eve”, we went on vacation when everyone came back and, on Sundays, we dressed up to go and greet customers. .
The other days, we lived as a duo, running through the woods and vineyards of our family home, with our fantastic nanny. After graduating from high school, I dreamed of adventure and I was happy to leave Eugénie-les-Bains to attend a business school in Bordeaux, then in England, where I became a waitress. My sister went to Paris to study Sciences Po and law at the Sorbonne.
“We had no plans to take over the family business and our parents made sure that we felt free, with no obligation to succeed them. » Eleonore Guerard
We had no plans to take over the family business and our parents ensured that we felt free, with no obligation to succeed them. But they were also very smart and made sure to make us love their way of life, their profession and their friends. So my sister and I started careers elsewhere. In 2006, our parents fell ill and I decided to come back to help them. The management of the marketing department of the Chaîne thermale du Soleil, the family business, was vacant, my mother trusted me and I learned my trade on the job.
Adeline joined us a few years later by creating a department dedicated to institutional relations. In 2017, our mother left us. I am now President and General Manager of the Chaîne thermale du Soleil, working alternately (every two years) with my sister. And we co-direct Les Prés d’Eugénie, of which my father remains president. If each of us has our favorite fields, administration and finance for Adeline, commerce and communication for me, we both have very sharp palates.
From early childhood, we tasted everything. Dad used our neophyte palates to get a first feedback on his creations. And, since I was 20, he has never served a dish without it having been tasted and validated by his wife, and today his two daughters. Four to five times a year, we meet at Eugénie and, for a week, we taste and dissect together all the new recipes. Some will be served at the three-star restaurant, others at La Ferme aux grives, our inn.
These are stimulating and tasty shared moments. Of course, I also cook at home: simple and quite spontaneous dishes, like this starter which works just as well with leeks, in winter, as with aubergines, in summer. This is a perfect vegetable recipe for a dinner with friends. And a nod to Les Prés d’Eugénie, where leeks are served roasted over a fire then smoked, garnished with a miso Hollandaise sauce. My version is more accessible, it’s the one I appropriated, but it’s also my filiation. »