International
Georgiana VIOU
Chef : 1 restaurant
"I knew from an early age that a meal was a link, a way of uniting people, or of making big decisions", says Georgiana Viou, who has been aware of the importance of cooking ever since she was a child. Born in Cotonou, Benin, in 1977, she arrived in Paris in 1999, intending to become an interpreter. But life took a different path, and between 2004 and 2005, when she moved to Marseille, her vocation opened its arms to her: "My career had to correspond to a profession I was passionate about." There was no doubt about it, it would be cooking.
Self-taught, she came up with the concept of a salad bar, but it was during a TV show in 2008 that she met Jean-Yves Piccinali, who convinced her to take part in the Taittinger competition, and then in another TV program. Her contact with chefs definitively confirmed her desire to go further.
Between 2010 and 2011, she trained with Lionel Levy, Sylvain Sendra and Hissa Takeuchi, and took over a kitchen workshop to open L'Atelier de Georgiana from 2011 to 2014. In 2015, she opened her restaurant Chez Georgiana, and was awarded the Jeune Talent trophy by Gault&Millau.
From Marseille to Corsica, she continues to practice her passion, until 2021, when she makes a stopover in Nîmes. At first, the menu at Rouge was brasserie-style, but after a first season, and a Grand de Demain title in her pocket, Georgiana Viou approached a pastry chef (François Josse) and sommelier (Suzanne Cochran) to give the menu a gastronomic identity. A good intuition, since in 2023, the woman who claims to be in competition only with herself will receive 3 Gault&Millau toques, and continue to advocate, more than ever, the collective as the key to success.
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