Julien SEBBAG

Chef : 1 restaurant A young, whimsical, self-taught chef, Julien Sebbag heads up several establishments in Paris, including Forest, the restaurant at the Museum of Modern Art.

Presentation

With a Master's degree in entrepreneurship, Julien Sebbag discovered a passion for cooking during his student travels to London and Tel Aviv ,"I had this real need to express myself. Cooking turned out to be the ideal medium, but quite late, at the age of 23", he recounts . In 2014, in London, the young man became fascinated byJerusalem, the book everyone's talking about, by Anglo-Israeli chef and author Yotam Ottolenghi. He then continued his exploration of Mediterranean cuisine in Tel Aviv, working alongside renowned chef Eyal Shani.

Julien Sebbag imported this gastronomic culture to France. After a short stint at Miznon, owned by Eyal Shani in Paris, he embarked on a unique home-cooking project: Je cuisine chez Oit. "It wasn't always easy, I sometimes found myself borrowing neighbors' ovens and cooking on several floors. "

On the strength of this formative experience, in 2019 he takes the reins of Créatures, an ephemeral restaurant set up on the terrace of Galeries Lafayette where he offers 100% plant-based cuisine. "I almost burnt out. I wanted to dust off the business, but in reality I was disorganized. Fortunately, a chef friend put me on the right track by teaching me a few essential basics." Reinvigorated, the following year he opened Tortuga, a second restaurant adjoining Créatures. Now with a Japanese, Peruvian and Chinese influence, he celebrates fish.

Associated with the Moma Group and passionate about contemporary art, Julien Sebbag responds to a call for tenders, in 2021, launched by the Paris Museum of Modern Art to invent a new restaurant within its walls. "When I entered this bunker, the song "A Forest" by The Cure came to mind. I imagined everything around this song, and in particular a young, innovative cuisine, centered on plants and raw fish." With a chef crowned with a première toque and the Jeune Talent 2022 trophy, the Forest restaurant has met with great success in the capital. However, the concept, which will be duplicated in Marseille in 2023, will close its doors after just a few months.

B.G.