Guy MARTIN

Guy Martin looks back on his journey as a self-taught chef, which led him to become the iconic head chef at Le Grand Véfour restaurant in Paris.

Presentation

As a teenager, Guy Martin dreamed of becoming a guitarist. His passion for cooking was sparked by reading *Gastronomie pratique* by Ali-Bab: “It’s a book that inspired me and helped me learn to cook, since I hadn’t trained under a master chef. ” And so, without any formal training, he honed his skills and refined his palate at the pizzeria where he worked.

He passed his high school diploma as an independent candidate and joined the restaurant Le Faisan Doré in Annecy. “There were two of us in the kitchen: the owner and me—I was both a commis and a sous-chef.” In 1980, he went to work at Yann in Annecy, the renowned restaurant run by Yves Lefebvre, who offered him the position of chef. He accepted, while also working night shifts at another restaurant, Le Brasero, in Tignes. He was 23 years old.

A year later, a friend offered him the position of chef at the Château de Coudrée in Sciez (Haute-Savoie). He spent three seasons there while also working during the winter at the Hôtel Carlina et Beaulieu in La Clusaz (Haute-Savoie). His meeting with René Traversac, owner of twelve Relais & Châteaux properties, led him to the Château d’Esclimont and then to the Château de Divonne-les-Bains. “I was supposed to be the head chef, but in the end he appointed me director of the establishment. It wasn’t planned, but he thought I was up to the task.”

The Grand Véfour Adventure

In 1991, he received a call: “Jean Taittinger asked me to run the Grand Véfour in Paris.” Eight years later, the restaurant earned a score of 19/20 and even the title of “Best Chef of the Year” from Gault&Millau. After purchasing the restaurant in 2011, he reimagined his vision. “I wanted to make the Véfour more accessible to a wider audience,” so Guy Martin shifted his cuisine toward more spontaneous and approachable dishes, focused on market-fresh ingredients.

Even today, the Savoyard chef is still going strong: he continues to host his show *Épicerie fine* and creates the menus for six restaurants in the Paris region. He also supports several charitable organizations, such as the Institut Curie and *Les Chefs du Cœur*. His latest acquisition? The Palazzo Matteo in Puglia, which he is renovating, as well as the Primissimo organic vineyard.