Frédéric LORIMIER

Chef : 1 restaurant After several years working alongside Arnaud Donckele, chef Frédéric Lorimier took over the reins at Virtus, Paris 12, in 2021, and has already won 3 toques.

Presentation

"I didn't necessarily want to work in the kitchen. What I was aiming for was the hotel and catering trades", explains Frédéric Lorimier. A BEP in service and a bac pro later, the young man decided to reorient himself towards cooking during his BTS. After completing his studies, he joined Le Grand Pré in Vaison-la-Romaine (Vaucluse) for one season, before flying to the United States. He landed in Chicago to become chef de partie at the Peninsula for a year.

He returned to France in 2013, joining the Chabichou hotel-restaurant in Courchevel. Once the winter season was over, he moved to Saint-Tropez, to work at La Vague d'Or with Arnaud Donckele. For three years, he alternated seasons between Saint-Tropez and Le K2 Collections in Courchevel. "The advantage of seasons is that every year you move up in position," he says, becoming sous chef at La Vague d'Or in 2017 and junior sous chef at Le K2 Collections. Then, in 2019, the Cheval Blanc group offered him a permanent contract alongside Arnaud Donckele. "It was excellent training, both for the gourmet chef he is and as a manager of numerous points of sale."

Since 2021, Frédéric Lorimier and his partner, Camille Gouyer, have been running their own restaurant, Virtus, in Paris 12. Here, the chef offers "gastronomic cuisine that's less stuffy and more friendly than haute gastronomie". A fine course rewarded with 3 Gault&Millau toques by 2023.

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