[Executive Chef Vincent Pouessel
Executive Chef Vincent Pouessel brings a diverse and extensive culinary background to the Aureole kitchen. Born into a family of butchers in Brittany, France, he developed an early reverence for quality ingredients. With such a family history, it is no surprise that Chef Pouessel was chosen to head Aureole Las Vegas, a restaurant guided by celebrity chef Charlie Palmer's own emphasis on ingredient integrity. Blending tradition with innovation, Chef Pouessel infuses Aureole's Progressive American menu with a French sophistication and an elegant simplicity that above all highlights the freshness of the seasons.
Growing up in Brittany, an area famous for its seafood, and in a “food family” surrounded by quality charcuterie, pates, and terrines, it is little wonder that Chef Pouessel became a chef. He pursued his culinary education first at Saint Michel College and at Lycée Hotelir Notre Dame, earning certificates in Cuisine de Collectivitées and Restaurant Cuisine. He then moved to Lincolnshire, England for two years to continue his practical education in restaurants abroad. Despite the derision he received from his French friends for “going to England for food,” a place that has a notorious culinary reputation for dishes like “mushy peas and fish and chips,” Chef Pouessel remembers his British education fondly: “1988 through 1990 was the beginning of New British food; young, talented British chefs” were beginning to make names for themselves. He then spent his mandatory two-year term in the French army as a mess cook in Bordeaux, refining his skills with large chateau dinners, before moving to Paris.
Chef Pouessel’s experiences in Paris made lasting impressions on his culinary philosophy. At Maxim’s Pierre Cardin, Chef Pouessel learned to improvise dishes from seasonal availability. The restaurant was two blocks away from the local market, bringing new meaning to his concept of “market cuisine.” “We would write down a list of everything we bought at the market and then would come up with the day’s menu on the spot.” This early training in culinary spontaneity is evident in his Aureole cuisine, which features regular ingredient shifts and prix-fixe menus to suit the seasons.
After Maxim’s, Chef Pouessel worked as the executive sous chef de cuisine at Jules Verne in the Eiffel Tower for five years. It was here where his reverence for ingredients became finely tuned: “I spent a lot of time working with one ingredient [at a time], learning [to apply] all the techniques.” This skillful attention to each culinary component is showcased brilliantly in Chef Pouessel’s Aureole menu, where dishes like the Duo of Kurobuta Pork, Duo of Big Eye Tuna, and Colorado Lamb Rack juxtapose different preparations of the same main ingredient as means of revealing subtle, inherent nuances.
Eight years ago, Chef Pouessel brought his talents to Las Vegas, where he started his American culinary career as sous chef de cuisine at MGM’s The Mansion. He left a short time later for Aureole, and quickly worked his way up the ranks to become its highly regarded executive chef. And it is here, at Aureole, where Chef Pouessel’s international training, diverse culinary experience, and passion for ingredients have come to roost, and are displayed in full splendor in Aureole’s awe-inspiring and flavorful dinner theatre.
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Review By Amelia Whitcomb
Restaurant Agent Inc.
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