Gilles Goujon

Gilles Goujon is a French chef whose work at L'Auberge du Vieux Puits in Fontjoncouse is built on long, disciplined kitchen training rather than a sudden break. Born on 10 December 1961, he began with apprenticeship at Chemins de fer du Midi in Gare de Béziers, where he developed the repetition, precision, and endurance that would shape his career. He then moved into assistant chef work at Ragueneau in Béziers, followed by responsibility for the fish department at Moulin de Mougins. Fish work demanded restraint, clean timing, and control, and it widened his technical range. He later worked as sous chef to Jean-Paul Passédat at Le Petit Nice in Marseille, before continuing at L'Escale in Carry-le-Rouet. In 1992, Goujon took over a bankrupt inn in Fontjoncouse. That address became L'Auberge du Vieux Puits, the restaurant that would define his career and become the fixed point of his work. As owner and Chef Patron, he converted years of station discipline into a house style shaped by patience, rigor, and consistency. The kitchen draws on a traditional foundation while remaining creative, with original recipes and carefully chosen ingredients. Its approach highlights local products and seasonality, with a focus on vegetables, lamb, local cheeses, and herbs. Tradition serves as a base for contrast, texture, and clarity rather than as a fixed display. His cooking is marked by strong flavors, clear contrasts, refined presentation, and a direct, character-rich style. The dishes can be playful in appearance, yet the work stays grounded in depth, seasoning, and long professional repetition. Familiar ingredients are treated with care so they remain legible, while the plate is given lift through balance and precise composition. One of his signature dishes combines red mullet filet with Bonne Bouche potatoes stuffed with spring onions, setting sea fish against the density of potato and the freshness of spring onions. Recognition followed the growth of the restaurant. L'Auberge du Vieux Puits received its first Michelin star in 1997, its second in 2001, and its third in 2010. Goujon was also named Meilleur Ouvrier de France in 1996, received a Bottin Gourmand star in 1997, and was Best Apprentice in Languedoc-Roussillon. His career traces a clear progression from apprenticeship and assistant work through chef de partie and sous chef roles to ownership and Chef Patron, with L'Auberge du Vieux Puits as the place where that accumulated practice was held in one kitchen and made consistent over time.