From a very young age, Clémentine Coussau has been an integral part of the Maison Coussau: "I was born here and I will end up here..." she says. The daughter of Jacques Coussau, who has always watched over the dining room and cellar of the Relais de la Poste since 1978, is also the niece of chef Jean Coussau. For more than six years now, she has taken over the latter in the kitchen and is preparing to become an Ambassador of Landaise cuisine in her turn.
One would think that the good fairies leaned on his cradle, it is rather an admirable career made of rich experiences which led him to be the second of the Relais de la Poste.
From Biarritz to Lyon via England and Spain, to perfect foreign languages, Clémentine has not been idle since obtaining her professional cooking diploma. A hotel baccalaureate in Toulouse, a degree in catering management at the Paul Bocuse Institute in Ecully, extended internships at the Waterside Inn, the three-star hotel in Bray-on-Thames, near London, by Michel and Alain Roux, then at Juan-Mari and Elena Arzak in their three-star hotel in San Sebastian in Spain, at the Maison Lameloise the three-star hotel in Chagny, plus Alain Dutournier in Paris at the Carré des Feuillants, at Jacques Chibois in Grasse at the Bastide St Antoine, and two more seasons at Château St Martin in Vence with Yannick Franques, two years at the Auberge Côté Quiller, the family inn next to the Relais de la Poste in Magescq: this is Clémentine Coussau's brilliant career.
It was finally six years ago that she returned to the Relais de la Poste to assist her uncle in the family restaurant. Over the past few years, Jean has shown her the steps to follow and revealed many of her secrets to preparing her to take over the Relais de la Poste as the accomplished and talented young chef that she is.