Foraging in the forest: sensory and culinary pleasures

Foraging in the forest is back in fashion and spreading through the world of gastronomy, where more and more chefs are won over by the culinary versatility of the herbs, flowers, plants and other tasty finds you can gather in nature.

The return of an ancestral practice

In the 1980s, the rediscovery of foraging — an ancestral practice — marked a radically different approach to mechanised agriculture. Danish chef René Redzepi, founder of Noma, is undoubtedly one of foraging’s leading promoters. To forage is to know your environment in detail — plants, flowers, berries, mushrooms — which requires an attention and mastery that anchor you deeply in nature.

A 300-hectare larder

It is therefore no surprise that chef Thomas Besnault — who joined Ardent in late 2021 before taking over in 2023 — took up foraging in the forest. It is hard to resist a potential larder of 300 hectares. For two years he trained with Émilie Boillot, founder of Touraine Terre d’Histoire.

Sustainability, local biodiversity, seasonality: foraging works the chef’s culinary intelligence as much as his sensitivity. In a menu powerfully inspired by the plant world, Thomas Besnault gives the forest to taste.