Guy MARTIN
Manager : 2 restaurants Chef : 2 restaurants Guy Martin looks back on the self-taught path that led him to become the emblematic chef of Paris's Le Grand Véfour restaurant.
As a teenager, Guy Martin dreamed of being a guitarist. His revelation for cooking came when he read Ali-Bab's Gastronomie pratique: " It's a book that inspired me, that helped me to cook because I hadn't been apprenticed to a master. "So, without any formal training, he developed his talents and his taste buds in the pizzeria where he worked.
He passed his baccalaureate on his own, and joined the Le Faisan Doré restaurant in Annecy. " There were two of us in the kitchen: the owner and me, and I was both commis and second-in-command. In 1980, he moved to Yves Lefebvre's renowned Yann restaurant in Annecy, where he was offered the position of Chef. He accepted, while working nights at another restaurant, Le Brasero, in Tignes. He was 23 years old at the time.
A year later, a friend offered him the position of Chef at Château de Coudrée, in Sciez (Haute-Savoie). He spent three seasons there, while also working in winter at the Carlina et Beaulieu hotel in La Clusaz (Haute-Savoie). His meeting with René Traversac, owner of twelve Relais&Châteaux establishments, led him to Château d'Esclimont and then to Château de Divonne-les-Bains. " I was supposed to be head chef, but in the end he appointed me manager of the establishment. It wasn't meant to be, but he felt I was right for it.
The Grand Véfour adventure
In 1991, he received a call: " Jean Taittinger has asked me to manage the Grand Véfour in Paris. ". Eight years later, he was awarded the 19/20 mark and even the title of "Best Chef of the Year" by Gault&Millau. After buying the establishment in 2011, he rethought his vision. " I wanted to make Le Véfour more accessible to a wider audience ", Guy Martin says, directing his cuisine towards more spontaneous and accessible dishes, based on market produce.
Even today, the Savoyard chef is not idle: he still presents his program Épicerie fine, and signs the menus of six establishments in the Paris region. He also sponsors a number of charities, including the Institut Curie and Chefs du Cœur. His latest acquisition? The Palazzo Matteo in Puglia, which he is renovating, as well as the Primissimo organic vineyard.
Its restaurants
Our partners
Food products, kitchen equipment, tableware, service solutions...
See the full list of partners who place their trust in Gault&Millau
All our partners
