The Head Chef at the Meurice has been awarded a third star,
the Michelin Guide’s highest honour

February 2007 - Le Meurice, one of Paris’ grandest hotels, is thrilled to announce that head Chef Yannick Alléno, has been awarded three Michelin stars. Since Alléno’s arrival at the hotel in late 2003, food critics and diners have showered him with accolades and the fabled dining-room of the glorious Le Meurice, one of the Dorchester Collection, has gone from strength to strength. After only six months, he achieved a two Michelin star rating. Most recently, Alléno was awarded the title of “espoir”, a new Michelin designation for chefs on their way to a glittering third star. Now, at just 39, Yannick Alléno has received the ultimate accolade and entered the elite circle of the world’s greatest chefs, an honour that is the crowning glory of a palace head chef’s career.

This exciting news also brings the Dorchester Collection to the very top of the culinary tree as it is now the only hotel group in the world with 6 Michelin stars in one city (Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée in Paris also holds 3 Michelin Stars).

Alléno took the reins of Le Meurice’s restaurant in 2003 and it was at this palace, which he calls “the dream setting in which to exercise my passion”, that he was to make his expertise truly take flight. Heading a team of 74 staff, the ambitious chef’s mission to re-invent gastronomic cuisine has led the restaurant to the summit of its reputation.

On receiving his third star, Yannick Alléno says: “This third star was my dream! It is the result of 23 years of work, passion and a desire to be the best at all times. Yet it also marks the beginning of a new life. This third star is a tremendous responsibility and it is now up to me to make it shine. More than ever, I want to progress and perfect my work in order to offer our clients real consistency and a true gastronomic signature. With my team at Le Meurice, I want to affirm this wish through a cuisine that is forever more rigorous, finer, and more creative, and to pass on this quest for excellence in order to represent and promote French gastronomy.”

Yannick Alléno

The Steady Progression of a Parisian Career

Competitions and Distinctions

1994: Auguste Escoffier International Prize, Nice, 1st Place

1999: Paul Bocuse Trophy, Lyon
Vice Champion du Monde de Cuisine (Bocuse d'Argent)

2007: National Order of Merit

Secretary General of the Academy of Bocuse d'Or Award Winners
Maître Cuisinier de France

Camille Lesecq, Pastry Chef at Le Meurice

Pastry Chef, Camille Lesecq's vocation was born in his uncle's aromatic pastry shop, where he loved to spend childhood vacations. Diploma in hand, the young apprentice left his native Normandy to join the staff of his mentor, Christophe Felder. His curiosity, tenacity and creativity were quickly noticed: he became a second in just three years. Named Pastry Chef at Le Meurice in 2004, he now heads a team of 14 people. A subtle blend of aromas characterizes the desserts of this perfectionist, who admits that he is "always questioning himself". He draws inspiration from the world around him: he might come up with a new idea or flavor combination as he is rollerblading around Paris. "I love to take inspiration from the secrets of tiny pastry shops that I discover completely by chance". His latest creation is the Pomme d'Amour (Love Apple) that he invented for Valentine's day. "I am always trying to suprise", explains Camille Lesecq, for whom a good dessert is "one that is remembered for a long time afterwards."

Nicolas Rebut, Head Sommelier at Le Meurice

Nicolas Rebut, Head Sommelier at Le Meurice hotel in Paris, discovered his passion for wine tasting at university. After studying for two years in Tain l’ Hermitage, he achieved his first internship at Bernard Loiseau for four months, where he specialised in Burgundy wines. Nicolas then continued his training at Louis XV restaurant in Monaco for another four months before Alain Ducasse offered him the position of commis sommelier, which he gladly accepted. After five years of working at Ducasse’s Louis XV, Nicholas was promoted to Head Sommelier, responsible for the impressive 1,000 square metre cellars containing 500,000 bottles of the finest wines. Rebut recalls, “It was a fantastic experience, the best lesson in my life”.

Having finished school at 23 to become a head Sommelier in a three Michelin-star restaurant by 27, is a rarity in the industry and a massive achievement.  Nicolas then arrived at Le Meurice in 2005, and transformed the hotel’s cellar with the acquisition of some of the finest and rarest wines in the world.

Exciting recent developments at Le Meurice have seen Nicholas create a range of beautiful wine glasses exclusive to the hotel as well the stunning Philippe Starck renovations to the ground floor of the hotel and restaurant. Here, the cellars are now on display to diners and a new private “nook”, surrounded by glass walls displaying hundreds of bottles, has been introduced in the dining-room,. This provides a perfect area for a more intimate dining experience.  Nicholas is delighted with the changes, “since 2007 and the Philippe Starck refurbishment, the gastronomic restaurant holds a special place at the hotel with the wine cellar’s visibility from the dining-room, and in which a couple can dine in all intimacy, surrounded by fantastic bottles of wine”.

One cannot help but wonder which wines a Head Sommelier prefers; a question that many sommeliers try to avoid, but one which Nicholas Rebut answers without any hesitation: the Grands Blancs de Bourgogne and his top choice being the Hermitage Cuvée Cathelin millésimé 1990 from Jean-Louis Chave. One of his fondest wine moments was when Chef Yannick Alléno opened a Chateaux Latour 1961 “ Yannick Alléno and I think very much alike, which is extremely important as my wines are selected to complement his delicious creations”.