Gault&Millau Paris hands its gold to La Table du 11

Gault&Millau Paris has given its 2027 gold to Jean-Baptiste Lavergne-Morazzani of La Table du 11 in Versailles, a dining room the yellow guide now marks 16/20 with three toques.

The award was handed over on Monday 7 September at the Orangerie d'Auteuil, at the Paris and Ile-de-France leg of the Gault&Millau Tour, with Jean-Francois Piege as godfather of the evening. The regional volume itself reached bookshops, the guide's own e-shop and Amazon on Thursday 10 September.

Lavergne-Morazzani opened La Table du 11 in 2015, at 24, after Ferrandi and spells with Gordon Ramsay and Yannick Alleno. The same guide named him Jeune Talent in 2016 and Grand de Demain in 2020. At 35 he collects the top regional prize, for a kitchen that works a short walk from the chateau and that has since been joined by La Cave du 11 and La Flottille, the tavern in the park at Versailles.

A mark out of twenty says more than a symbol, and it hurts more too.

What Gault&Millau Paris rewarded

Seven other prizes went out on the night. Jason Gouzy, of Pantagruel in the first arrondissement, was named Grand de Demain on 15/20 and three toques. Jihyun Kim, of Ebene in the fifteenth, took Jeune Talent on 13.5/20 and two toques.

Thomas Boullault, of L'Arome in the eighth, won the technique award on 15.5/20. David Boudinet, pastry chef at Maison Rostang in the seventeenth, was named pastry chef of the year on 16.5/20. Remi Chambard, of Le Corot at Ville d'Avray, was rewarded for his work with producers on 15.5/20. The highest mark of the evening went to a dining room and not a stove: Gaetan Lacoste, head sommelier at Le Gabriel in the eighth, scored 18.5/20 and four toques.

A guide that still scores out of 20

Gault&Millau marks out of 20 instead of awarding stars, so its regional tours read as a league table of French kitchens rather than a list of addresses. Paris and Ile-de-France is the biggest of the fifteen or so regional selections it now publishes each year, and the one where the distance between 15 and 16 is argued about hardest. It is also the busiest month for the trade: Taillevent has just changed head chef, and the autumn ceremonies are only starting.

The guide is not a neutral referee, and nobody in the room pretends otherwise: the tour is a paid-for event with sponsors, and the marks are set by a small inspection team. What it does offer is a number, which is harder to hide behind than a symbol. Another set of numbers is due when Michelin reads out its next selection later this month.

Gault&Millau usually follows the regional volumes with a national guide in the autumn. Whoever is on 16/20 in Versailles this week finds out then whether the figure holds.