Simon Horwitz: a chef, a creative cuisine

At Elmer, chef Simon Horwitz cooks a creative cuisine born of his travels and built around the wood fire. Seasonal produce, plates made to be shared, and a dining room open onto the rotisserie.

The career: from Ferrandi to the great tables of Latin America

A graduate of École Ferrandi, he moved through a series of remarkable kitchens: Jacques Chibois at La Bastide Saint-Antoine, Sylvestre Wahid at L'Oustau de Baumanière and at Le Strato in Courchevel, then Pierre Gagnaire at Le Balzac, in Paris. In 2011, he became second to his former classmate Bertrand Grébaut for the opening of Septime, then took part in the opening of Crom'exquis alongside Pierre Meneau.

Before launching his own address, he set out to explore other culinary cultures in South-East Asia. He spent time in Australia in the kitchens of Ben Shewry at Attica in Melbourne, discovered Hong Kong street food, and settled in Japan to learn traditional Japanese cooking before moving on to the starred tables of Kyoto.

Then came the leap to South America: Brazil, Bolivia, Mexico, where he worked alongside Enrique Olvera in the kitchens of Pujol, then Peru with Virgilio Martinez at his restaurant Central. All these experiences deepened his taste for honest produce, for the warmth of large shared tables and for dishes meant to be passed around.

Cooking shaped by travel, built around the wood fire

From those years in Japan, Mexico and Peru, Simon Horwitz brought back a simple conviction: fire is the oldest of seasonings. At Elmer, he has made it the signature of the house. Meat turns slowly on the spit, the barbecue sears and grills the fish as well as the large cuts made for sharing, and every cooking is adjusted to the degree, with nothing to hide behind, so that the produce can speak for itself.

This is where the speciality of the house comes from: meat and fish cooked over the wood fire, served as part of a creative cuisine that changes with the seasons and with each day's deliveries. The produce comes from small French farms, organic or eco-responsible, chosen to hold up to the spit and the embers.

To experience the service from the open kitchen, alongside the chef and his team, discover the Chef's Table.

See also our wood-fire cooking and our menus.