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David Toutain Indenti-T / Paris

The return of the Prodigal chef

That David Toutain fell into cooking was pure serendipity, merely following a classmate. A few years later, something clicks and he finds in it a meaning for his life. With a second training internship at Bernard Loiseau's, he leaves behind him his native Normandy and his parents’ farm. At 20 years old, he provokes luck and enters L’Arpège, right when Alain Passard is turning his aim towards vegetables. A true sign of fate. Within less than a year, he becomes his second-in-command and brushes his talent along a wide palette of greens. Chlorophyll turns out to be his main inspiration. This sensory journey reaches its peak alongside Marc Veyrat – who talks about him as a spiritual son. David experiences an enchanted interlude, up in the mountains, where herbs, flowers and earth become his fountains of creation. Satiated, inspired, enlightened; he leaves for Spain and then New York. In 2010 he returns to France and opens l’Agapé Substance. In 2013, eager to explore the world and to share his experience with other chefs, he embarks on a nomadic year of worldwide reflection and tasting. The end of 2013 sees the opening of the Restaurant David Toutain in Paris and in 2014 he launches Identi-T, a dining room right next to his restaurant, the adventure is only just starting…

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