Julien LEMARIÉ

Chef : 2 restaurants

Presentation

"My first memory of cooking is of my mother's rabbit with mustard," confesses Julien Lemarié, who can't remember ever wanting to do anything else. After his apprenticeship, he moved to London to work with the famous chef Gordon Ramsay, with whom he stayed for eight years. It was Ramsay who sent him to Japan to open the Conrad restaurant in Tokyo.

The young chef fell in love with the country and its gastronomy (and with his wife). Julien Lemarié leaves Gordon Ramsay's group to work for Michel Troisgros, also in Tokyo. A globetrotter at heart, he then headed off to Singapore, to the Raffles, where he landed his first position as head chef, before returning to France."I did a season in Courchevel on my return, at Cheval Blanc, before officiating at La Coquerie du LeCoq-Gadby, 2 toques in Rennes."

In 2017, Julien Lemarié finally opened his own establishment, Ima ("now", in Japanese), in Rennes, where he offers Franco-Japanese fusion cuisine. And it's a hit. Gault&Millau immediately awarded him 3 toques, and Ima has been busy ever since. Le Grand de Demain 2019 even opens a second address right next door, in 2020: Imayoko (yoko, "next door", in Japanese), a sort of Japanese-style wine bar, where the chef cooks original donburi, a traditional Japanese dish, a bowl of rice served with a revisited garnish. The restaurant was awarded a 12/20 (1 toque) rating in the Guide Jaune.

F.H.