Behind the stoves at Bulle 1924 in Reims, Matthieu Aigron champions French cooking that is generous, lively and deeply attached to the produce. Trained at Ferrandi and seasoned in great Parisian establishments, the chef chose to put his experience at the service of more personal cooking: the kind you enjoy preparing, but above all the kind you enjoy eating.
With him, there is no question of complicating a dish just to impress. Produce, season and flavour come before everything else.
(opens in a new window)From Ferrandi to the kitchens of great Parisian houses
Before Bulle 1924 came the years of training.
Matthieu Aigron first trained at Ferrandi Bordeaux, where he acquired the technical foundations of French cuisine and, above all, discovered what the job demands every day: precision, organisation, a lot of hard work and a certain ability to start again until it is right.
He then continued his career in several great establishments, notably the Plaza Athénée and the Saint-James Paris.
These experiences gave him the rigour of fine dining, respect for the produce and the attention to detail that often separates a good plate from a very good one.
They also gradually gave him the desire to find his own path.
French cooking that does not stay frozen in the past
At Bulle 1924, Matthieu Aigron is not trying to reinvent French cuisine at every service.
He prefers to start from what it already does very well.
A sauce made properly. Meat cooked the way it should be. Fish treated with respect. Vegetables that truly belong on the plate. An indulgent dessert that does not need an instruction manual to understand what you are eating.
Tradition is a starting point, never a straitjacket.
Recipes can therefore evolve, be modernised or take a few liberties. What matters lies elsewhere: when a plate arrives at the table, it should make you want to dig in.
That is probably the best definition of Matthieu Aigron’s cooking: contemporary French cuisine that puts taste before showmanship.
At Bulle 1924, the menu follows the seasons
It is impossible to talk about the chef’s cooking without talking about produce.
At Bulle 1924, the menu is designed around fresh, seasonal produce, with particular attention to sourcing and to producers. It also means accepting that a restaurant does not serve exactly the same thing in January and in July.
And that is rather good news.
The cooking changes with deliveries, the seasons and the chef’s inspiration. Some classics may stay, while other dishes appear and then disappear a few weeks later.
This freedom allows Matthieu Aigron to keep his cooking alive, far from endless menus where the same dishes go through all four seasons without batting an eyelid.
Bulle 1924, cooking designed for Reims
It is at 14 Place Aristide Briand, in the heart of Reims, that Matthieu Aigron has now set up his world.
The name Bulle 1924 — “bulle” means bubble — is obviously no coincidence in a city so closely linked to Champagne. The restaurant also borrows the spirit of the Roaring Twenties: an era of parties, newfound freedom and big shared tables.
This world is reflected in the identity of the place, without turning the restaurant into a museum set.
On the plate, Reims and Champagne are never far away. The chef likes to work with his surroundings and to create a dialogue between French culinary tradition and more local produce and inspirations.
The idea is not to offer a fixed regional cuisine, but to make Bulle 1924 a Reims restaurant with its own personality.
Food made to be eaten before being photographed
Matthieu Aigron knows the codes of contemporary gastronomy. He could probably multiply the dots of sauce, the plating tweezers and the long-winded dish names.
That is not really the point.
Of course a plate must look good. Presentation matters, cooking times too, as does the balance of textures and flavours. But technique must stay in its place: at the service of pleasure.
This philosophy explains why instantly recognisable dishes sit alongside more personal creations. Matthieu Aigron loves the classics of French cuisine precisely because they offer a wonderful playground.
You can follow them to the letter. You can also shake them up.
But you need a good reason to do so.
The pleasure of cooking, and of passing it on
This cooking without grand speeches fits quite well with the way Matthieu Aigron sees his profession.
A chef spends much of their life behind the stoves, but the work is not limited to the moment the plate leaves the kitchen. You have to choose the produce, design the menus, test, taste, correct, organise the brigade’s work and pass on skills sometimes learned years earlier.
Passing things on holds an important place in his career.
Matthieu Aigron also shares his experience outside the restaurant, particularly around French gastronomy, produce and tourism. A way of making accessible a world that can sometimes seem far more complicated than it really is.
Because behind the technique, the great houses and the years of experience, his idea of cooking comes down to just a few words:
good produce, real cooking and the desire to please.
This is the cooking Matthieu Aigron offers today at Bulle 1924 in Reims.
Discover the chef’s seasonal menu and the Bouillon lunch menu, or book a table. Back to the Bulle 1924 home page or to the team.
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