The portrait of the chef Jean Sulpice

Born in Aix-les- Bains, cooking is in Jean Sulpice's blood - his maternal grandparents had two hotel restaurants in Aix-les-Bains.

Burning with desire to prove his worth, Jean Sulpice joined Jean and Pierre Marin, the chefs at the Auberge Lamartine in Le Bourget du Lac. He then went and worked with Marc Veyrat on the banks of Lake Annecy, where he discovered an unusual world full of stocks, emulsion sauces, siphon mousses, and wild plant infusions, together with a heightened sense of presentation.

After some time spent working with Gagnaire and Solivérès in Paris, and then with his Savoy friend Edouard Loubet at the Moulin de Lourmarin, who shares his passion for nature and the mountains, Jean Sulpice returned to the Ferme de mon Père with Marc Veyrat in Megève, where he met Magali who was the sommelier there, and they have been together ever since.

In 2002, at the age of 24, he took over the restaurant the Oxalys, which was awarded a Michelin star 4 years later and a second star in March 2010.

'My dishes are inspired by nature and based on respect for the produce, which contrasts with the seasoning, and I pay particular attention to providing balanced nutrition.'

Jean Sulpice published his first book Ma cuisine de Savoie in 2005, an invitation to rediscover the most traditional of Savoy produce but with a quirky, unusual twist. Just 3 years later he brought out Altitude 2300m (60 recipes, of which 20 are easy to prepare), a cookery book combining recipes and portraits of the local producers he works with on a daily basis.

In December 2009 he was named one of the five great chefs of tomorrow by Michelin Etoile Magazine, and was nominated once again in January 2010 by Express Styles as one of the six great chefs of tomorrow.

At the beginning of the year the Chef at the Oxalys embarked on a new gastronomic adventure, devising menus for the crèche in Val Thorens. Since becoming a Dad, Jean Sulpice has become 'more interested in the quality and origins of the cuisine there' and the crèche directors suggested he devise menus in tandem with a nutritionist. So that is what he did, and now the team prepare between 25 and 30 menus [o1] a day, made using healthy products and then delivered directly to the crèche. This initiative has been welcomed with unanimous acclaim, from both the children and their parents!