HABILE. is proud to join Ethic Ocean

Ethic Oceanis an association dedicated to preserving the oceans and their resources. Their goal: to mobilise all professionals across the entire supply chain (fishers, aquaculture producers, suppliers, distributors, fishmongers and chefs) by encouraging good practices in favour of the oceans. Because yes, fish is a bit like seasons — you can't eat everything, all the time.

But how do you find your way? Aguidefor professionals presents the main species consumed through the lens of sustainability. Updated every year on the basis of scientific data, it is the essential tool for all those who buy and sell seafood and want to ensure a sustainable supply. A second guide provides information on how to combat illegal fishing. This one is aimed at suppliers and distributors.

Ethic Ocean has created anapp, free and accessible to all, in which consumers can find the information from the Species Guide (including sustainability criteria: fishing zone, fishing technique and maturity size), to help them choose their seafood.

HABILE. is proud to join this association. Thanks to this collaboration, we carefully select the fish that feature on our monthly menus.

To celebrate our joining Ethic Ocean, their team is today shining aspotlighton ourproject.

"Eric Fontanini is the chef of restaurant Habile, located in the 10th arrondissement of Paris. Together with his partner Camille Andrieux, a stylist by profession, they merged their two worlds to create "Habile." Habile is both a restaurant and a clothing brand, united by a common thread: reducing the environmental impact of their respective activities.

An early calling

Eric started cooking very young, as a child, drawn by the sense of independence that came from preparing his own meals. Curious by nature, he liked to understand where ingredients came from. At fifteen, he enrolled at the René Auffray hotel school in Clichy, and after earning his technological baccalaureate, went on to a BTS at the same school. During his training, he worked evenings and weekends at Guy Savoy's restaurant la Butte Chaillot (Paris, 16th arr.). He stayed on at the same restaurant after graduating, spending two years as a chef de partie. Then, in June 2002, he took the position of sous-chef at Alain Ducasse's hotel le Parc (Paris, 16th arr.), where he remained for a year.

Eric then turned to restaurant consulting from 2003 to 2005, supporting restaurants in their operations — for instance ahead of an opening or during a menu change.

In 2005, Eric decided to fly to San Francisco to gain experience and practise his English. He stayed for three years. He returned to France in 2008 and resumed his consulting work until 2010, before leaving again — this time for Ibiza — to work at the Chiringuito as head chef. He came back to France in 2012 to take the position of chef at the restaurant du Palais Royal.

Habile: a dual identity

The Habile adventure began in 2014, first with the launch of aclothing brandconceived by his partner Camille, which pushes back against fast fashion by offering unique, durable pieces that can be worn for many years.

A few years later, Eric and Camille envisioned a space that would let them bring their two activities together, and opened HABILE.: a restaurant on the ground floor, run by Eric, and a grocery and clothing boutique upstairs, conceived and managed by Camille. The opening took place in June 2021.

HABILE proposes a balance between the world of yesterday and that of today. Are there skills we have forgotten, that worked before, and that could be useful to us today, in a context of overproduction and dwindling resources?

Cooking simply and well — but above all, responsibly

What Eric loves about this profession is the possibility of constantly reinventing himself, discovering new things, and putting his ideas into practice straight away. "We start over, every single day. There's very little waiting between the moment you have an idea and the moment you put it in place."

In the kitchen, the chef favours simplicity — he offers generous, indulgent dishes that go straight to the point. A cuisine that aims not to be ambitious, but effective. The ingredient, minimally transformed, is at the centre of the plate. Choosing his products carefully, and finding out about their origin and production conditions, matters to him. Themenuis changed every month to follow the seasons.

"It's not an environmental conscience, it's environmental pragmatism. As chefs, we have a responsibility — we have to go and source products, but also answers."

Commitment to Ethic Ocean

When it comes to seafood, Eric discovered Ethic Ocean through several of his colleagues already involved with the association, as well as through the Ecotable label, which supports restaurateurs in their ecological transition and with which the restaurant HABILE is certified.

He wanted to connect with Ethic Ocean in order to access scientific data and make sure he wasn't offering any endangered species on his menu.

He offers his customers only line-caught fish, as well as hand-dived scallops. He also wants to introduce his clientele to lesser-known but sustainable species, following Ethic Ocean's recommendations."

The article can be foundhere.