On the ice road with Lionel Chauvin
It is May 10, 2022, it is 9:30 a.m. Paris wakes up, the merchants open their large iron curtains, the birds sing. Paris without rain, Paris pretty. The first rays of sunshine accompany our journey to the 16th arrondissement of Paris. The meeting is set at 11 a.m. in front of the store. Lily & Enzo, Ice creams and Sorbets. »
A terrace in the sun, a decor with touches of red and nature. Tourists on a walk. Here is the place in which I am about to interview Lionel Chauvin, through a discussion, on Hubert Cloix machines, his know-how, his inventiveness, and his future. Lionel, like Hubert Cloix, is a family story, a story of passion, a story of traditions.
He welcomes us to his first business, the “Methuselah” restaurant. In this restaurant, you can taste the chef's dishes, often accompanied by sorbet specially designed to combine the flavors together, and make an exceptional dish. (for example, a salmon tartare accompanied by Kalamansi sorbet, a citrus fruit halfway between Kumquat and lime).
Crossing the street, you have his second business, an ice cream shop. On the front of the window, your eyes are directly attracted by all the small posters. I'll let you go and find out for yourself, it's worth the detour.
So we start with a tasting, which does not displease me (yes the ice cream and us…. you know).
I had the pleasure of tasting the hazelnut, pistachio and nocciolata flavours. Dye-free, and vegetable. I can not describe the marriage of these flavors as my taste buds are still salivating. The certainty: it is that I will come back to enjoy a glass after a stroll on the banks of the Seine perhaps.
LIONEL AND ICE: rigor and creativity
Lionel does not overflow his ice cream, he develops his recipes himself, either on request or according to his imagination. Being very demanding on what he offers to his customers, Lionel invests himself body and soul to find you the desired combination, to delight the finest of gourmets. In one year, he doubled his staff (he was alone, now there are two 😉). And he certainly does not intend to stop there, renovating his second business so that he can soon expand this little corner of paradise. Hubert Cloix will be at his side in this new project, always accompanying our customers as best as possible according to their wishes, their dreams.