Alexandre - Michel KAYSER

Garons

Michel Kayser's kitchen near Nîmes

Between Nîmes and Arles, Michel Kayser runs the kitchen at Restaurant Alexandre. The restaurant is set in a park planted with hundred-year-old cedars, a setting that reflects the calm rhythm of the surrounding countryside.

Michel Kayser's cuisine focuses on Mediterranean ingredients, underpinned by precise technique and meticulous preparation. Each dish highlights the main product and makes the most of it, whether it's choice cuts or lesser-known parts.
Examples from the kitchen include red mullet grilled under a salamander, accompanied by ravioli with picholine olives and a sauce based on roasted fish bones. Costières de Nîmes squab is cooked on the bone, with a stuffed leg, crispy giblets and a jus flavored with smoked paprika.

The accompaniments are designed to support the central ingredient rather than compete with it. Bread made from red mullet scales is served with certain fish dishes, well-suited to absorbing rich sauces in the manner of a bouillabaisse rouille.
Preparations such as rabbit terrine also reflect the kitchen's head-to-tail approach to ingredients.
The style is direct and ingredient-driven. There are no elaborate techniques or visual tricks. The emphasis is on flavor, a clear structure on the plate and a close link to the Mediterranean table