Nicolas Guignard

Coming Up

At CFA de Tours-Nord, the technical base of the trade took shape for Guignard before he moved into professional kitchens. His first service came as a seasonal cook at Camping de l’Ecluse in Chambray-les-Tours, a post that would have demanded range, speed and composure under pressure. He then worked as cook at Comptoir du Relais, adding another layer of routine, pace and working rhythm to the craft. In 2009, Guignard joined Le Choiseul in Amboise as cook, extending that formation in a new kitchen context. By 2014, he had taken up the role he still holds at Brasserie Brunet, where years of successive service have given him the continuity to shape a kitchen from within.

Where They Are Now

At Brasserie Brunet in Annecy, France, Guignard is the chef responsible for the daily balance of service, order and consistency. The work at this stage is less about proving a point than sustaining standards: keeping the room moving, the pass steady and the kitchen legible to everyone working inside it. Annecy is the setting, but the authority in the room comes from experience earned elsewhere, including Touraine and Amboise. That background gives his cooking its grounded, practical bearing.

Signature

Nicolas Guignard is known for Champignons en Chaud-Froid. The dish points to control over temperature, texture and finish, with enough restraint in the plate to let technique do the work. It fits a career built through measured steps: precise, composed and free of excess.

In Their Words The quote describes a practical way of thinking: hands on, methodical and interested in how things function. Before the kitchen, Guignard was already working through problems by dismantling and reassembling them, learning through touch and correction. That same logic carries into cookery, where repeated handling, adjustment and repair are part of the trade.