Apprenticeship

After an apprenticeship in his native region of Aveyron in South Western France, Cyril Lignac made his way to Paris in 2000 to work in the kitchen of L'Arpège, the restaurant of Chef Alain Passard. He honed his skills alongside the Jacques and Laurent Pourcel brothers at La Maison Blancheand Le Jardin des Sens.

Installation in Paris

In 2005, he opened his own gourmet restaurant Le Quinzième in Paris. In 2008, he took over the Parisian bistro Le Chardenoux, a listed historical monument. In 2011, he brought the Chardenoux bistro concept to a new venue in the Saint-Germain des Prés when he took over the Claude Sainlouis, renaming it Aux Prés. That same year, Cyril Lignac went into a new project and opened with Benoît Couvrand La Pâtisserie Cyril Lignac in Paris. In 2013, they opened their second boutique in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, in the Chaillot district, facing Galliera Palace.

The chef received his first Michelin star on 27 February 2012, for his gourmet restaurant Le Quinzième.

TV programmes

Cyril Lignac was spotted by the producer Bibiane Godfroid, who bought the rights to the show Jamie's Kitchen by Jamie Oliver and broadcast on Channel 4. He became a media figure by participating in several programs broadcast on M6 channel:

• 2005 : Oui chef ! ;
• 2006 : Chef, la recette ! ;
• 2007 : Vive la cantine ! ;
• 2009 : Chef Contre Attaque ;
• 2010 : MIAM : Mon invitation à manger, performed by his own production company KFP (Kitchen Factory Productions) ;
• from 2011 until today: "100% Terroirs" broadcast every Friday in 100% Mag program ;
• 2012 : Le Chef en France, programs dedicated to French regions and their culinary heritage ;
• 2012 : Le Meilleur Pâtissier, the French version of The Great British Bake Off, an amateur pastry competition.
• 2020 : Tous en cuisine, program where he cooks a meal live with 6 families on their webcams.
• 2020 : Chef contre chef.

Publications

Cyril Lignac has published about forty cookbooks, including Génération Chef, Cuisine Attitude, or Le Chardenoux, edited by Hachette Pratique. At spring 2012, he signed a Best of in collaboration with Alain Ducasse edition and in September 2012 Le Chardenoux des Près. La cuisine de mon bistrot with Hachette. From 2007 to 2011, he was editorial adviser for the bimonthly magazine Cuisine by Cyril Lignac, published by Paper Box.

Community involvement

In 2008, Cyril Lignac was chosen to support Un fruit pour la récré by the French ministry of Agriculture, a program of free fruits distribution in schools.