Top Chef opens many doors. And the candidates for the famous M6 culinary competition know this well. Some are opening their own establishment, like Mohamed Cheikh, winner of season 12 in 2021 who launched Meïda, where he offers his Mediterranean-inspired cuisine, or Mory Sacko, participant of season 11 in 2020, who has no less than four Parisian addresses and can boast of having won a star in the Michelin guide. The season before, another candidate stood out. It is aboutAlexia Duchênesemi-finalist of Top Chef in 2019 which was able to seduce viewers with its bold and generous proposals. Five years after this great television experience, the young woman is embarking on a new great adventure.
From Top Chefthings have happened in Alexia Duchêne’s life. She married her lover Ronan Le May, she left Paris for New York, she opened an establishment there called Margot and from which she has since retired… But when she left the restaurant, she had not said her last word. Tuesday December 17, 2024, the young 29-year-old chef announces some great news. On Instagram, she poses with her husband in the streets of New York, keys in hand. But it is not about the purchase of their new cocoon, after they have left their superb Haussmann-style apartment in Paris. “We are opening a restaurant!“, announces the one who was the victim of rape when she was still a minor.
After Top Chef, she left Paris and opened her own restaurant in New York
A happy announcement that she continues: “We just signed a lease for a beautiful space in the West Village. This will be our first restaurant, our home where we will truly express what French hospitality means to us. This dream started 12 years ago when I arrived in New York and it’s really moving to see it come true. We are working hard to make this space as personal and special as possible with the help of @fred_interiors_architecture. All this is possible because we dream big and our investors believe in our vision, so for that thank you Christophe, Anne-Gaëlle, Mathieu, Virginie, Allison, Ludovic, Bill, Jesse and Yves.“The establishment, named The Oakcertainly a mix of the lovers’ last names – Le May for Ronan and Duchêne for Alexia -, should open its doors next spring and offer French cuisine. For the rest, you will have to wait…”We will share more information soon“, indicates the young chef. To be continued, therefore!
