La Boheme Strikes the right note

Olivier Troalen has taken his native French cuisine and created new-style dishes that delight his Lymm clientele

- Roger Borrell

If your image of a French chef is a man serious to the point of sullenness, obsessed with traditional and formality and with an unwavering passion for heavy sauces, then you haven’t met Olivier Troalen or eaten at La Boheme, his restaurant in Lymm.

If ever a chef was très jolly, then it is Olivier, whose approach to cooking for the allegedly ill-educated palates on this side of the Channel is one of great enthusiasm, good humour and much charm.

This is a man who thoroughly enjoys his work. ‘I get up every morning looking forward to the day ahead,’ he says. ‘I feel sorry for people who don’t like going to work.

‘It’s a wonderful job. For me, looking back on what I have done each day is such a joy. It’s always a challenge running a family business and to survive you have to do it bloody well...excuse my French!’

Olivier clearly loves the food and produce of France but he feels its cuisine has become stuck in a rut. His desire to lighten it will manifest itself in his second cookbook, A Taste of Home, published later this year. As well as being a celebration of good food, it also marks the 20th anniversary of La Boheme. He is producing it through crowdfunding and, so far, around 400 customers have offered their support.