Laurent Cherchi

The Climb

Early kitchen work taught Laurent Cherchi the habits that separate movement from noise: clean execution, repeatable gestures, and attention under pressure. In the brigade of Christophe Moret at Lasserre in Paris, and later in the brigade of Christophe Moret at Shangri-La, the standards were exacting enough to make discipline part of the daily routine. Those rooms built a style grounded in precision and control, with little tolerance for vanity and none for imprecision. Since 2015, that same discipline has carried through Reflet d'Obione, where Laurent Cherchi has worked as chef, alongside his role as chef of San Omakase. The arc is one of steady refinement rather than abrupt ascent: standards accumulated over time, then made visible through repeated decisions in service.

Today

At Reflet d'Obione, obione serves as the signature marker, giving the cooking a specific botanical point of reference rather than a generic emblem. That kind of naming matters in a trade that can drift toward broad claims. It keeps the work tied to ingredient identity, to place, and to a kitchen language that knows what it is trying to say. Sourcing is described with the same exactness. Laurent Cherchi says, "We have a very precise sourcing approach." The line is plain, and that plainness fits the method: cooking that begins before service, in the decisions about what comes into the kitchen and what does not. The dining room follows the same logic, with hospitality framed as responsibility. As he puts it, "It is our responsibility to open their minds as much as possible." Here, service is not only about feeding guests but about asking them to meet the plate on its own terms. Taken together, those principles define a kitchen organized around repetition, care, and adjustment. The emphasis is not on display, but on precision used in service of flexibility: adapting without flattening the restaurant’s identity, and keeping the work exact without making it rigid.

In Their Words “A part of our customers knows that all our dishes can be adapted in vegetarian, gluten-free, or even vegan versions, but we are first and foremost a gastronomic restaurant that has, by conviction, adapted to each person's restrictions.” “It was a shock, but as a chef it made me realize the difficulties.” These two lines show a practical approach to the floor and the pass. The first makes clear that adaptation is built into the offering without changing the restaurant’s category; the second shows how pressure can sharpen a chef’s understanding of the work itself. Together, they point to an operator shaped by constraint, accommodation, and experience.

Recognition

Laurent Cherchi's honors include MICHELIN Guide One Star (2019) and Gault&Millau Jeune Talent (2020). Those distinctions place his work in a line of recognition for precision and promise, while keeping the emphasis where it belongs: on the same disciplined foundation formed in the brigades of Christophe Moret at Lasserre in Paris and Christophe Moret at Shangri-La.