i. Biography
The cooking at Clos des Sens has narrowed its working radius over time. In Franck Derouet’s case, the line runs from major international establishments to a kitchen organized around regional lakes, a permaculture garden, and a 100-kilometer locavore radius. The measure is proximity: water, soil, herbs, vegetables, lake fish, and ingredients gathered only a few kilometers from service.
Coming Up
High-gastronomy discipline was part of the early formation, with Franck Derouet working in major international establishments, including chef Georges Blanc's at Georges Blanc. The later post at Clos des Sens in Annecy-le-Vieux (2011–2023), as a member of the kitchen team under Laurent Petit, placed that discipline inside a more local register, where the restaurant’s cooking became tied to its Alpine setting, its lakes, and its garden-driven sensibility. The current chapter at Clos des Sens, where Franck is owner and chef (since 2023), continues that move toward nearness. The kitchen’s attention is on season, place, and the timing of what can be harvested, caught, infused, or served at peak freshness.
Where They Are Now
Vegetable and lacustrine cooking gives the restaurant its present frame. As co-owner of Le Clos des Sens with Thomas Lorival, Franck Derouet works in a register built from leaves, stems, roots, freshwater, and alpine conditions, with the surrounding landscape treated as operating material rather than decoration. The supply chain is deliberately close. Menus draw on Lake Annecy, Lake Bourget, and a permaculture garden of more than 200 vegetable varieties. The garden functions as a working pantry, setting the pace for texture, bitterness, sweetness, aromatics, and seasonality. Raw materials are harvested a few kilometers from the table and processed without refrigeration to preserve freshness and authentic flavor, keeping the kitchen focused on immediacy and restraint. The ingredient field is local, vegetable, lake and sea. With Lorival, Derouet offers a plant- and lake-oriented culinary universe within a locavore radius of no more than 100 km around Le Clos des Sens, using vegetables, lake fish, herbs, and seasonal aromatics from the kitchen garden. The boundary is part of the method: a defined radius, a defined pantry, and a cuisine built from what that frame can supply. The beverage work follows the same logic. Derouet and Lorival pair dishes with non-alcoholic beverages such as herbal teas and infusions made from garden plants, carrying the garden into the glass through heat, fragrance, and vegetal nuance. The dish language includes Quintessence d’écrevisses, truite du Léman et Poutargue de féra, and envolée de champignons de Savoie. Another associated signature, croustillant de foie de féra, is described as revisited with texture and a frank taste.
Signature
Franck's signature dishes include Quintessence d’écrevisses.
Honors
Franck Derouet has received MICHELIN Guide — three stars for Clos des Sens (2019). Franck's honors include Three Michelin stars for Clos des Sens (2019) and Green Star for Clos des Sens.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Franck
What is Franck Derouet's current role?
Franck Derouet is Owner and Chef of Clos des Sens.
Where did Franck Derouet work before?
Earlier in their career, Franck Derouet worked at Georges Blanc and Clos des Sens.
What recognition has Franck Derouet received?
Three Michelin stars for Clos des Sens (2019).
