Page 104 - The Book For Men Spring/Summer 2023

All Aboard
Famed chef Jean Imbert brings his A-list cooking to the luxury Venice-Simplon-Orient Express By Erin Davis
WITH A ROSTER OF WORLD-CLASS RESTURANTS UNDER his helm, an enviable style that complements his signature flowing locks, and an Instagram account full of photos with famous faces, chef Jean Imbert is living the dream.
The 41-year-old celebrity chef became a household name in France in 2012, when he won the French edition of Top Chef. Taking his talents beyond borders, Imbert teamed up with Pharrell Williams and American hospitality king David Grutman to open the see-and-be-seen Miami spot Swan in 2018. By 2019, Vanity Fair named Imbert one of the most important people in France. The following year, Imbert reunited with Williams to open ToShare in Saint-Tropez.
Imbert currently runs the kitchen at Jean Imbert au Plaza Athénée, the Michelin-starred French gastronomic restaurant in the Plaza Athénée hotel in Paris. He took over the space in 2022, succeeding French culinary royalty, chef Alain Ducasse. Imbert also creates comforting, authentic French brasserie cuisine at the hotel’s Art Deco-designed restaurant, Le Relais Plaza. Not far away, Imbert lends his talents to Monsieur Dior, the 2022-opened restaurant in Christian Dior flagship in Paris.
In the French West Indies, Imbert heads La Case restaurant at the LVMH- owned Cheval Blanc St-Barth beach resort, a breezy, billionaire go-to. Imbert also creates the dishes for the ultra-luxury Venice Simplon-Orient-Express (VSOE) train, which takes its champagne-sipping riders to Europe’s finest — and fanciest — cities. Most recently, Imbert took over the kitchen at the A-list favourite French Polynesian resort, The Brando, earlier this year.
“When I was 10 years old, I was already dreaming about the moment I would open the doors of my first restaurant,” says Imbert. “The fact that it actually happened confirmed that my childhood dreams were the right ones. I opened my first restaurant at 22 years old and that experience taught me a lot, from [recognizing] carelessness, to the reality of the profession, which is very difficult. It was a unique experience.”
This first restaurant, L’Acajou, was a Paris staple for 15 years before it was reimagined as Mamie in 2019. Mamie paid homage to Imbert’s beloved grandmother, Nicole, who inspired his passion for cooking. It closed its doors in 2021 upon her passing. “My biggest influences come from my childhood, my family, my homeland Brittany, the things that move me — obviously, my grandmother,” says Imbert. “I have a lot of ‘Madeleine de Proust’ moments. I like to cook with my own personal sensitivity.”
104 BFM / SS23 FEATURES / ALL ABOARD
PHOTOGRAPHED BY BOBY ALLIN.