Your chef at the Dent du Chat restaurant in Aix-les-Bains

Rendez-vous with David Megueni: cooking with finesse

Can you introduce yourself ?
I have been working with Vacances Bleues for 1 year. Before that, I cooked in several 4-star hotels and I had my own restaurant. I have been in the restaurant business for 36 years. Cooking is my life!

How do you welcome new customers to your restaurant?
To welcome new holidaymakers, we organise a typical Savoyard meal! Every Thursday, we take the barbecue out onto the terrace and cook close to the customers, I really enjoy this contact with them.
For the other meals, I have developed a small menu that works well, with good dishes of the day.

How would you define your cuisine at the Villa Marlioz?
It’s a fine and lively cuisine, in the sense that it reflects my mood, the atmosphere of the kitchen… With a base of 95% fresh products, we work on everything, from A to Z. The menu varies according to the seasons, and with autumn comes risottos and good veloutés… At the foot of the mountains, we live to the rhythm of the seasons!

What makes you enjoy working with Vacances Bleues?
I am lucky to have found the right hotel Director: Nicolas Brosset. He is open and willing to listen and we have developed a mutual trust.
The working environment is exceptional: the kitchen is large, open, with a view of the park. During breaks, we can enjoy the panorama or go for a walk on the Lac du Bourget… The advantage of working in a place that holidaymakers like!

Where did you get your passion for cooking and your desire to make it your profession?
When I was young, my best friend and I used to spend afternoons in a railway carriage designing our future restaurant. We started cooking together. After the second year, he had an accident and was paralysed. I continued alone. After all these years, I still love cooking.

If you were a dish, what would you be?
A rossini burger: a fillet of beef with a slice of foie gras, a caramelised onion fondue, a brioche bun and a morel sauce to bind it all together…

It makes you want to eat! A restaurant address in Aix-les-Bains or the surrounding area?
L’Atelier d’Elise, which offers a raw, rustic cuisine, just the way I like it. The restaurant is friendly, close to the lake, with good value for money.
La Parfumerie, in Viviers-du-Lac: a little more expensive, but very good quality.
And the Villa Marlioz of course! You will be welcomed by a great team and the prices are interesting. You don’t have to be a hotel guest to come and eat, we will be happy to welcome you!