You will be welcomed in an elegant turn-of-the 20th century residence set in a 7-hectare park in the heart of the town of Reims.  Each room is lovingly furnished in a style of its own while in Didier Elena's traditional yet modern cuisine, the flavors combine to conjure up true harmony on the plate.

Didier Elena's journey thus far has been rich in experiences. His culinary career began with Alain Ducasse in 1988 and, aside from his military service and a short stint as proprietor of Les Epicuriens in Nice, this young (33 year old) chef has earned his stripes in the Ducasse "universe." 

"High voltage" cooking

Didier Elena brought with him to the Château Les Crayères a straightforward, concentrated, dynamic and technically-accomplished cooking style, characteristics that have led it to be termed "rectangular." He always imagines his plates to be fields of tension, a pull between two poles producing an interplay between opposites - luxurious and rustic, raw and cooked, hot and cold, sophisticated and natural - that  is expressed as much as in the flavors as in the textures, ingredients and techniques. He dazzled diners with his sole with briny butter and smoked spring cabbage in which the denseness of the fish played off against the smoky vegetable flavor in a sort of give-and-take heightened even more by the subtlety of the secondary elements: oyster aspic with the cabbage, seaweed butter with the sole and a chartreuse sauce that harmoniously tied both together. 

But this interplay of tensions on the plate is also an occasion for Didier Elena to express a gentle irony about himself and to take a step back from his cooking. In fact, although luxurious ingredients are entirely appropriate for the establishment he oversees, he willingly pairs them with much more rustic products, or uses them in almost sarcastic constructions, as in his miniature ham-butter-pickle sandwich or his take on the classic croque-monsieur. 

This inclination towards a certain kind of culinary humor seems to have increased over the past year and is now evident in a good number of Didier Elena's plates. It's not uncommon to find in one or another some similar reinterpreations or variations on culinary landmarks such as steak-frites or the seafood platter.

And while the construction may no longer be bipolar, one still finds this binary interplay between the various elements of the plate, with the product itself providing the range of oppositions. In this case, instead of creating depth through the exchange of textures and flavors in the two elements, the chef is able to imbue his creation with a richness that comes from a whole network of surface interrelations. 

This striving for depth, density and complexity (in the way that a great wine is complex) is completely characteristic of Didier Elena's style.