Aude by birth, Toulouse by heart, Nicolas Brousse is a long-term chef, passionate about cooking at a very young age. It was like a call, having barely reached the age of reason, reinforced by the lively, deep feeling of a vocation. His village childhood in Roubia, to the east of the Minervois, within reach of the Corbières, under the fading shadow of the Black Mountain and the spray returning from the wide open Mediterranean, did not count for anything in his revelation. Land, sea, mountain: an ideal triptych for any gourmet, especially in the south of Languedoc, a melting pot of immemorial cuisine, an ancient Roman route...
An apprenticeship with the greatest
At the turn of the century, upon entering the hotel school in Carcassonne, Nicolas Brousse completed internships as a kitchen assistant in very large houses every summer.
In 2002, once his classes were completed, crowned with an additional pastry honor, he joined the Hôtel de la Cité in Carcassonne as head chef, in the brigade of Franck Putelat, today Meilleur Ouvrier de France and at the head of a two-star Michelin restaurant.
A fundamental experience for Nicolas Brousse, as is also the one lived from 2005 to 2007 in Toulouse, at Michel Sarran (2 *), a restaurant which he joined as pastry chef. Then came a stint at La Bergerie (1*), in Aude, as assistant chef, then at La Bastide de Cabriès, in Aix-en-Provence, where Nicolas Brousse, this time as chef, allowed the restaurant to to obtain a Michelin star.
Spontaneous cooking
In 2013, back in Toulouse, he opened his own establishment, Monsieur Marius, quickly accompanied by an adjoining wine bar, L'Avant-Marius, which would subsequently become Monsieur, la table, and the bistro. Hailed by the Gault&Millau guide, which pinned him on its 2015 Young Talents table, as well as by the Michelin guide which awarded him a BIB Gourmand, Nicolas Brousse gives free rein to spontaneous cuisine, mixing bistro touches and market returns, making both giving pride of place to the classic heritage of French gastronomic heritage as well as forays into a more modern register, without ever refraining from crossing borders with a few winks, homages and small touches.
As for her love for game cuisine, fine beaks and highway hares, she is a seasonal compass of which Cartouches is a reflection.
Natural pleasures
In cooking perhaps more than anywhere else, keeping things simple is undoubtedly the most difficult thing. Combining this desire with the desire to remain constantly demanding, to pay attention to details, to put the work back on the job day after day does not simplify the task. With Cartouches, Nicolas Brousse and Caroline Salamone want to extend this quest, convinced that pleasure is always best combined naturally. Hence this open kitchen, less to show off than to be closer, as the art of entertaining does not adapt well to distance, to distance. At Cartouches, as soon as you cross the threshold, you come to lean on the counter and ask about the offerings of the day, what's already singing on the stoves, to toast and sit down at the table together. These days, they are the most valuable ammunition.
Text Nicolas Rivière