Origines, an ethical gourmet restaurant committed to the environment in the heart of Puy-de-Dôme
The Michelin-starred gourmet restaurant Origines works daily for eco-responsible and ethical catering. A commitment from the heart for chef Adrien Descouls who takes care to promote endemic local treasures and the producers who bring this Auvergne land to life.
An active philosophy underlined by 3 Ecotable macaroons. Low carbon impact, permaculture gardens, noble natural materials, waste recovery and short circuits, Origines takes care of its roots.
Short circuit as a priority
Origines has always placed the producers of Puy-de-Dôme and Cézallier at the heart of its approach: the vast majority of ingredients cooked by Adrien Descouls' teams come from local organic and/or sustainable agriculture. Like Chris Kilner's microgreens in Saint-Jean-de-Val, meat products from the Gauthier butcher's shop in Clermont-Ferrand, Eric Houlbert's cheeses in Issoire, fruits and vegetables from the Ducros family in Broc, or even Saffron des volcanos by Christopher Baur. Without forgetting Henri Bouniol's precious spring peas from Planèze and blond lentils from Saint-Flour, old varieties grown a few kilometers away in Cantal.
The chef has also made the choice for several years to stop using sea fish to promote fish from rivers and lakes in the Auvergne mountains. Like the trout and other arctic char and char from the Cézallier fish farm.
Sharpened eco-responsibility
From waste sorting to eco-labelled materials used through sustained and efficient energy efficiency, Origines fosters keen eco-responsibility.
For its renovation, the Origines restaurant used beautiful local natural materials such as the elegant Volvic volcanic stone or raw oak. Lighting throughout the establishment is done using LED bulbs. The heated floor and large bay windows of the restaurant allow low energy consumption, optimized by an efficient insulation system. The hoods recover the heat and then distribute it to the rest of the kitchens. As for waste, compost feeds the permaculture garden and sorting is implemented to optimize recycling as much as possible.
The permaculture garden: a true open-air ecological laboratory
Opposite the restaurant, the Origines restaurant cultivates its own 2000 m2 permaculture garden. A true open-air ecological laboratory, this garden allows the chef and his teams to cultivate their aromatic plants but also and above all to introduce new varieties into the repertoire of Origines flavors. Original flavors which draw their roots from the history of the territory and Puy-de-Dôme, a land of cereals and fruit.
Apricot trees from Puy-de-Dôme, rose hips, barberries, ancestral onions, ancient wheat, the house cultivates forgotten or extinct endemic species to bring them up to date. The idea: explore, experiment, then give local farmers these precious seeds to grow for the restaurant on a larger scale. Another playground for this gourmet eco-laboratory: varieties from elsewhere, from similar volcanic terroirs such as those of Japan, to introduce unexpected products which also flourish in Auvergne.
