These three young chefs are preparing to open their first restaurant in the Northeast
The 2026 Gault&Millau Northeast Young Talent Award ceremony was held at the École Médéric in Paris. Victor Grimon, Khelil Morin, and Andréa Serafini were the three winners.
The Gault&Millau Young Talent Award continues its tour of the regions. For its 2026 Northeast session, the Yellow Guide invited the winners, its partners, and students to gather on Monday, September 28, at the École Médéric in Paris’s 17th arrondissement. The patron of this edition, Jean-Baptiste Lavergne-Morazzani, chef at La Table du 11 (3 toques) in Versailles, welcomed three young chefs to the stage who were recognized for their first restaurant projects: Victor Grimon, Khelil Morin, and Andréa Serafini.
The Young Talents Grant: A Springboard for Opening Your First Restaurant
Since 2014, the principle has remained the same: any young chef wishing to launch their first business can apply. The Gault&Millau team selects the most promising projects and then organizes meetings between these young entrepreneurs and partners in the hospitality industry. These partners commit to advising and supporting the winners by providing them with a grant in the form of equipment, ingredients, or services, valued at over 25,000 euros per recipient. Over the past twelve years, more than 130 projects have been supported in this way. Alexandre Mazzia, one of the very first recipients and now at the helmof AM by Alexandre Mazzia (5 toques) in Marseille, remains one of the program’s most inspiring examples.
Victor Grimon, Chez Vic’ in Metz
Coming from a long line of restaurateurs in the Vosges, Victor Grimon grew up at the Relais de Vincey, the family-run hotel and restaurant located north of Épinal. Trained at the culinary school in Le Touquet, he honed his skills underÉric Frechon at Le Bristol (4 toques), then at L’Orangerie du George V alongsideAlan Taudon, before joining Laurent Petit at Le Clos des Sens (4 toques) in Annecy-le-Vieux. Returning to the Vosges during the pandemic, he modernized the family restaurant with his cousin Léo Toussaint, all while developing his own project. In early September 2026, he opened Chez Vic’ on Rue des Jardins in Metz, just a stone’s throw from the cathedral, in a former tailor’s shop that he owns. For lunch, a three-course menu for €60; for dinner, a five-course menu for €90. “We work with exceptional ingredients, mostly local, but I don’t rule out fish from Lake Geneva or other seafood, ” explains the chef.
© Jérôme Peleyras
Khelil Morin: His First Restaurant in Northeast Paris
After earning his Bac S as an independent candidate, Khelil Morin found his calling at the CFA Belliard in Paris’s18th arrondissement. He trained through a work-study program at Le Poulpry (2 toques), then worked his way through various Parisian establishments, from Jaja to Gros, including La Maison Lautrec and Le Django. Now executive chef of the Perchoir Group, he is notably responsible for the menu at Le Chéper in the Marais and hosts chefs-in-residence such as Manon Fleury and Adrien Cachot. After several seasons as a consultant and the reopening of the restaurant at the Hôtel Monte Cristo in the5th arrondissement, he now runs Blainville, a bistro on Rue Saint-Denis. At the same time, he is actively searching for a location to open his first restaurant, “ideally in northeastern Paris.”
© Jérôme Peleyras
Andréa Serafini: A Taste for Traditional Brasserie Cuisine
The son of parents in the hospitality industry, Andréa Serafini attended the Saint-Nazaire Hotel School and the Lycée Jean Drouant before completing an apprenticeship at L’Ô Gayot (1 toque), Franck Quinton’s bistro in Bagnoles-de-l’Orne. “That’s the kind of cuisine I love—bistro-style, refined, and unpretentious, ” he explains. He then joined Deux Restaurant (2 toques) in the11th arrondissement, where he now shares management responsibilities with Tiphaine Mollard and Romain Casas, who were both awarded toques in 2021. The duo will take stakes in his future restaurant: a brasserie seating 50 to 60 guests, true to all the traditions of the genre, which he hopes to open in Paris in the coming months.
© Jérôme Peleyras
Jean-Baptiste Lavergne-Morazzani, patron of the 2026 Northeast edition
Named Young Talent of the Year in 2016, “Grand de Demain” in 2020, and recipient of the Gault&Millau d’Or Paris Île-de-France award in 2026, Jean-Baptiste Lavergne-Morazzani embodies the path to which the award recipients aspire. Trained at the Ferrandi School, he worked under Gordon Ramsay at Le Trianon, alongside Yannick Alléno at Le Meurice, and then with Philippe Bélissent at Le Cobéa, before opening La Table du 11 (3 toques) in Versailles in 2015. Since June 2024, he has also been creating the menu for La Flottille, the historic open-air café nestled along the Grand Canal in the grounds of the Palace of Versailles. Ambitious, he now has his sights set on 5 toques.
© Jérôme Peleyras
A Lecture for Students at the École Médéric
Before the awards ceremony, students from the École Médéric had the opportunity to speak with Marc Esquerré, director of surveys at Gault&Millau; Bruno de Monte, the school’s director general; the event’s sponsor; partners; and the three award recipients. The surveyors’ evaluation criteria, the role of social media, essential entrepreneurial skills, and the most time-consuming steps leading up to a restaurant’s opening: this was a wonderful opportunity for these future professionals to nurture their own entrepreneurial projects.
© Jérôme Peleyras
How to Apply for the Gault&Millau Young Talents Grant?
The Young Talents Grant is intended for young chefs—both men and women—who are embarking on the journey of opening their first restaurant. If you have plans to open a restaurant, don’t hesitate to submit your application during the next session organized in your region.
