Meet Kevin, head chef at the brand’s Paris restaurant.
This is a connoisseurs’ secret. Tucked away on the first floor of our womenswear shop, a few doors down from the very first agnès b. shop that opened nearly 50 years ago, Le Pain Grillé is the brand’s Paris café-restaurant. The place betrays the designer’s culinary obsessions, from eggs to seasonal produce, with a strong focus on flavour. The space itself is another opportunity for Agnès to showcase her creativity, with her own photographs of ingredients, dishes and utensils currently on the walls. Kevin Kockaya is the chef who brings Agnès’s vision to life, and Timothée Le Pape is the head waiter. Behind the counter, Kevin tells us about his background and shares why Le Pain Grillé is the toast of the town.
How did you arrive at Pain Grillé?
I’ve always had a thing for cooking. It’s about sharing and making people happy, whether they’re friends, family or strangers. I started cooking at 10, and by 13-14, I was cooking almost every day. I have Turkish origins on my father’s side, and I remember the magic and ceremonial feeling of sitting down at the dinner table together. After my A-levels, I put this passion aside to study business, but I didn’t like it, and came back to my first love. I started as a waiter at Nanashi, Kaori Endo’s French-Japanese restaurant. I used to pay close attention to the chefs, and sharing amazing meals with the staff rekindled my desire for a career in cooking. I trained at Thierry Marx’s and got started right away. Lockdown happened on the heels of my first experience in a Parisian bistrot. Then I heard about this job at Le Pain Grillé and went for it.
What’s your typical day like?
We open at 11 am, so my day starts at 10. I buy produce at Terroirs d’avenir and Comptoir de la Gastronomie, two places that focus on great produce and savoir-faire. I love buying ingredients from there, it’s a lot of fun. Back at the café, I’ll find Timothée, Le Pain Grillé’s long-serving waiter. We share the idea that a good workatmosphere is critical, and I’m a stickler for kindness. We serve food from 11 to 6. Once the rush is over, I set everything up for the next day.
What can we eat at Le Pain Grillé?
Le Pain Grillé is sort of Agnès’s baby. The cuisine reflect her tastes: it’s just like at home — she’s always loved cooking for her family — and it’s all about quality ingredients. On the menu, we have small entrées that change with the seasons: at the moment, we have a roasted aubergine dip, a tomato mozzarella salad, or asparagus with mousseline sauce. The dishes we have year-round are eggs, because Agnès loves them, served scrambled, mayonnaise or soft-boiled, as well as great charcuterie. Our cooking is all about French, family, flavourful food, and I try to bring my own twist to it. The café-restaurant is located on the first floor of our womenswear shop. It’s a little haven of peace between the busy Châtelet and Montorgueil districts. And it doubles up as an exhibition space. We’re currently showing some of Agnès’s pictures of fruits, vegetables and dishes, most of which are on the menu. It’s sort of like being at home. It’s simple and unpretentious, just like Agnès.
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Le Pain Grillé, 6 rue du jour, Paris 1st.
Non stop serving from 11am to 6pm, from tuesday to saturday.
