Jean IMBERT

As head chef of the Plaza Athénée restaurants, Jean Imbert has breathed new life into this legendary Parisian venue. Here’s what led him down this unexpected path.

Presentation

Jean Imbert grew up far removed from fast-food standards, raised on his grandmother’s traditional recipes in Brittany. It was during an internship at Jean-Pierre Crouzil’s restaurant in Plancoët that he discovered his calling. After graduating from high school, he enrolled at the Institut Paul Bocuse and cut his teeth working under renowned chefs such as Michel Rostang in Paris and Antoine Westermann in Strasbourg. He then went on to work under Éric Briffard, followed by Marc Meneau

His Early Career as a Chef

In 2004, at just 22 years old, he opened L’Acajou in Paris. Success followed, particularly after a glowing review by food critic Jean-Luc Petitrenaud on Europe 1. But it was his victory on *Top Chef* in 2012 that propelled him into the spotlight. He went on to appear on various TV shows, including *Norbert et Jean: Le Défi*, *Pékin Express*, and *Top Chef: Le Choc des Champions*…

In 2019, he transformed L’Acajou into a more casual spot called Mamie. The goal: to serve the best recipes he’d created with his grandmother, Nicole Imbert. The restaurant closed its doors two years later, following her passing. This led to a book paying tribute to her: *Merci mamie pour les recettes* (Thank You, Grandma, for the Recipes), published by Chêne.

Travel and the Plaza Athénée

In 2018, Jean Imbert made his debut in the United States through a collaboration with singer Pharrell Williams. He created the menus for Swan and Bar Bevy in Miami, Encore in New York, and ToShare in Saint-Tropez. The following year, he took part in the reopening of the Cheval Blanc hotel in Saint-Barthélemy, taking the helm of the kitchen at La Case restaurant.

Jean Imbert’s arrival at the Plaza Athénée in 2021 marked the beginning of a new adventure, as he succeeded Alain Ducasse, who had held the position for 21 years. Despite facing criticism upon his arrival, the 40-year-old chef breathed new life into the establishment and established himself at the Relais Plaza, and later at the Jean Imbert restaurant at the Plaza Athénée.

Since then, the chef has created the menus for the restaurant Monsieur Dior on Avenue Montaigne; the luxury train, the Venice-Simplon-Orient-Express; and finally, The Brando, the hotel owned by actor Marlon Brando in French Polynesia. In 2023, Jean Imbert also took the helm of all the restaurants at the Martinez Hotel in Cannes.