Food & beverage “No, no, no,” he laughs, without skipping a beat.
“We have plenty of stars already. It’s enough.” Indeed, the revered French chef has amassed a total of 15 Michelin stars across his burgeoning collection of restaurants including three at Alléno Paris, two at L’Abysse and one at the original Pavyllon in Paris. These days, he tells me with a conspiratorial smile, stars are no longer the goal: “I just want to make my guests happy.” Catching my raised eyebrow (I’m not entirely convinced he isn’t hoping to dazzle inspectors), he continues: “Honestly [the stars] are not my concern… what keeps me awake at night is if I hear one of my diners has been disappointed. Being a chef comes with a lot of responsibility.” And, while he has carved out an enviable reputation as one of the planet’s superstar chefs, his London debut remains a daunting one. “The quality of the restaurants and the energy is crazy,” he says, pausing for a moment as if he still can’t quite believe he is really here.
“I’ve wanted to come to London for a very long time… but Londoners aren’t waiting around for another French chef. Now, it’s time for us to make it happen and be the absolute best we can.”
Food in the family
Food has always been everything to Alléno. He grew up behind the counter in bistros run by his parents in the suburbs of Paris. Summers were spent learning to cook with his grandmother at her house in the countryside and in a restaurant in a little village where his cousin, Jean-Marc, worked as a chef (“I was the mascot of the team”). At just 15, he left school and got his first proper job in a professional kitchen, working under Gabriel Biscay at Le Royal Monceau in Paris. It wasn’t easy – but Alléno’s dedication to his craft never wavered.
Alléno continued to leapfrog between some of the
world’s fiercest kitchens, working closely with Roland Durand and Martial Enguehard at Sofitel Porte de Sèvres. But it was at Drouant – an iconic brasserie in the heart of Paris – that he really honed his skills under the tutelage of chef Louis Grondard. It wasn’t long before he secured his first head chef position at Scribe, scooping two Michelin stars within three years of taking over the kitchen. In 2003, Alléno became head chef at Le Meurice, winning the coveted three-star accolade in just four years.
“I was talking to my mum about this recently,” he recalls, “She said, ‘You don’t remember this, but when you used to come back home you would have blood on your feet from working so many hours.’ I never complained though… I loved it.”
“Honestly [the stars] are not my concern… what keeps me awake at night is if I hear one of my diners has been disappointed. Being a chef comes with a lot of responsibility.”
Above: Chef Yannick, Pavyllon London.
Left: Dover Sole ‘Timbale’ with mussels and clams, served with celery leaves and leeks and shellfi sh Beurre Blanc sauce.
Opposite: Pavyllon London by Yannick Alléno.
Hotel Management International /
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Four Seasons/Roche Communications
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