Blake Aguillard and Trey Smith
Saint-Germain | New Orleans
SEPTEMBER 2022
Ever since Blake Aguillard was a child, he knew he wanted to be a chef. At the age of 22, he left Baton Rouge, Louisiana to study at Le Cordon Bleu’s Austin, Texas campus and later interned at the Peppermill Resort in Reno, Nevada—his first taste of working in a French fine dining kitchen. He moved to New Orleans after graduating and landed at Restaurant August, where he cooked alongside Chef Trey Smith.
Unlike Aguillard, Smith didn’t always know that cooking professionally was for him. After studying economics, he decided to go to law school in Oklahoma City, picking up shifts at the Royal Bavaria for some extra cash. He loved it so much that he dropped out of law school and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America. Smith moved to New Orleans to work at Restaurant August, following the same sous chef track as Aguillard.
August’s then chef de cuisine, Rising Stars alum Michael Gulotta, sent Aguillard and Smith to the Romantik Hotel Spielweg in Germany. There, they gained a holistic culinary education under Chef Karl-Josef Fuchs and traveled around Europe, falling in love with intimate, natural wine bars. When they returned to New Orleans, Aguillard and Smith followed Gulotta to open MOPHO as co-sous chefs. They both rose the ranks to chef de cuisine—Aguillard at MOPHO and Smith at Gulotta’s second concept, Maypop. After a stint at Saison in San Francisco, Aguillard partnered with Smith and front of house expert, Drew Delaughter, to open a concept of their own. They found a cozy house in the Bywater neighborhood and transformed it into Saint-Germain, a restaurant inspired by their travels through Europe. With both a natural wine bar and a dining room designed for an ever-evolving tasting menu, Aguillard and Smith serve approachable and outstandingly well-executed dishes while maintaining a classic New Orleans charm.
