PHILOSOPHY
Original Concepts
If a concept is strong, Chef Westermann understands that the lifetime of a restaurant should not expand beyond 10 years.
With any concept, he knows when to turn the page and move forward.
Mon Vieil Ami,
2005 – 2016
One of the first 3-Michelin-starred chef's bistros and the first step outside Alsace of chef Antoine Westermann pays homage to the home cooking of his childhood vegetables by choosing the best market gardeners to accompany him. This restaurant is part of the first generation of bistronomists, and in 2005, it won the Best Bistronomic award in the Fooding guide. Antoine Westermann sold Mon Vieil Ami in 2016 in order to devote himself fully to the opening of New York.
Drouant,
2006 – 2018
In 2006, Antoine Westermann bought the famous Drouant restaurant where the greatest French literary prizes are awarded, the Goncourt prize and The Renaudot prize. It's a huge culinary challenge that allows him to pursue his idea of a feast at the table. He restores the dishes of the day with great French classics, and these dishes are often nominated as Parisian best off.
Drouant was sold to the Gardinier family of restauranteurs in 2018 so that Antoine Westermann could continue to focus on poultry.
Le Coq & Fils – The Bistro of Beautiful Birds,
2012 – Present
Le Coq & Fils is the first-ever poultry centric restaurant where Westermann utilizes his signature slow-cooking technique of poaching then roasting a bird. It opened its first location in Paris in 2012 and the second one in New York City in 2016 that is no longer under Chef Westermann control and cuisine since August 2018.
The restaurant was named, “The Best New York Restaurants of 2016”and Chef’s Ile Flottante was named “Top 10 New York Dishes of 2016” by The New York Times.
