“I have established strong friendships with certain American stars, but the chef must never take himself for the customer”

He alone embodies a success-story French style, with a global impact and a glamorous flavor that fits perfectly in an era where social networks rule the roost. At barely 43 years old, Jean Imbert has conquered an empire which he directs with a gentleness emphasized by all. Revealed by Top Chef in 2012, hard worker, inventive chef but respectful of heritage, curious about everything, ideal representative of a new gastronomic guard, idol of the star system – without ever being a snob -, he has also remained a man of the land , attached to his family and his Breton roots – the Emerald Coast.
At the head of multiple establishments – including the prestigious Plaza Athénée – already a first star -, he also presides over the destiny of the Venise Simplon-Orient-Express. It is aboard this legendary train that he has just revealed his new collaboration with Nespresso: a collection of three coffees, three flavors, inspired by the world of travel, star of the holiday season, and of accessories, so many invitations to indulgence. Interview.

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Madame Figaro. – What makes Jean Imbert run?
Jean Imbert.- The dream. Magic. This may sound a bit cliché but it's close to reality. I have had the chance to make a lot of my dreams come true: the Plaza Athénée, the Brando in Polynesia, the Dior house or the Venise Simplon-Orient-Express. I still have other dreams but I have no career plan. And then, we must not fall asleep on our achievements, I continue to fight to preserve the dreams that I have achieved, to make them perpetuate. Because catering is a down-to-earth profession: if you miss one dinner, then two, then three, it's over. You have to stay focused on your work.

Some actors dream of an Oscar. What is the Holy Grail for a chef?
I'm not in for a Grail of reward. Of course, the star received for the table at the Plaza Athénée made me happy and made the teams happy, but my ambition is not there. My ambition is above all the daily: to pass the cards, to ensure that we eat well. And work hard. If you work well, then things happen and things can make you proud. No one in my family was in the restaurant business and I took over from Alain Ducasse at the Plaza Athénée. I'm happy about all that and, at the same time, you have to have the humility to know that you're passing through these places, that's also what makes the thing so beautiful and great. I am a passer: we mark a time, and then we pass the torch. These places, the Plaza Athénée, the Simplon Venise-Orient-Express, are iconic, legendary, they will continue to shine after me. So. All this means that I am in a perpetuating movement: everything must change so that nothing changes.

Paris, Polynesia, Cannes, Saint-Barth etc. How do you reconcile these multiple activities?
For sure, I'm all in! The link between all these places is the kitchen. And I'm not alone: ​​there are the teams. Each place is inhabited by a team that I have selected and on whom I can count. The challenge is also knowing the first names of the 600 or 700 people who work with me. We are all linked by a positive energy and a kind of brotherhood. In the restaurant business, you don't do anything alone. It's a team job, pure and hard, old-fashioned, fraternal. I need friendship, united people, otherwise I'll explode in flight. I have to deal with everyone, otherwise it doesn't work.

I need friendship, united people, otherwise I explode in flight

Jean Imbert

Your parents were bookbinders…
My father was a bookbinder. We had no connection with the restaurant business. My mother, however, was careful to only buy fresh or processed products, whether we were in L'Hay-les-Roses, where I grew up, or in Brittany on certain weekends. My parents wouldn't take me to a restaurant: I was too boisterous, they couldn't hold me. I experienced my first 3 star at 28, at Pierre Gagnaire's, a one-on-one lunch with my father for my birthday…

Where did your early passion for cooking come from?
Probably from my grandmother and also, more selfishly, from the fact that I liked to cook my own food. Before going to school, then when I came home, I cooked, I must have been 12 years old. For Christmas, I ordered cookbooks and copper pots. I tried all the recipes, I could get up in the night to make a red mullet. Until I was 16, I never went to bed later than 8:30 p.m., but I was up at 4 or 5 a.m. cooking. At 5 p.m., when I came home from school, I didn't watch “Club Dorothée” but I ate a rack of veal. It drove my parents crazy, especially my father. Even something basic, tomato-mozzarella for example, I tried 200 different dressings. I was passionate, even possessed. I would make and redo a recipe to the extreme, until I got it right. And on Wednesday, the schoolchildren's day off, I cooked for the family.

At 5 p.m., when I came home from school, I didn't watch “Club Dorothée” but I threw a rack of veal

Jean Imbert

Did your parents end up supporting you?
My mother yes, my father a little less. He was making fun of me. He said: ““Little John” (his nickname, Editor’s note)he’s going to make mayonnaise in life!” He started at 13 in a factory, his dream of success for his children was a bit stereotypical: lawyer or doctor. My father was a hard worker, he would leave at 5 a.m. and we wouldn't see him again until 9 p.m. Wanting to become a chef, 25 years ago, was neither as popular nor as prestigious as it is today. But this adversity undoubtedly forged my determination. This challenged me even more. What is certain is that my father passed on to me the value of intense work and willpower. There was a very American side to our family, we had to be competitive, not lose. But I loved it and still love it.

Is this the reason for your international success? In your circle, there is Madonna, Beyoncé, Pharrell Williams or JR…
Each bond of friendship with these exceptional personalities tells a particular story, but it is true that there is a convergence. I have no explanation for that. I'm simple, I stay in my place, I don't ask for anything. I happened to sleep with American stars, I formed strong friendships with some but the cook must never take himself for the customer. I stay in my place. When the launch of the Plaza Athénée took place, there was Beyoncé and Jay-Z, I ended the evening with them but I wasn't being smart either: I don't forget who I am. Furthermore, beyond their fame, these artists that I have the chance to meet are eminently inspiring. Their involvement in their art is extraordinary. Their commitment, their power, their talent, their attention to detail. It's extremely challenging. I also feed on all this. And what I would like to add is that cooking truly breaks boundaries and castes: it brings people together.

How do you deal with your own fame?
I don't feel famous at all. I didn't do this job to become one: a cook is a shadow job. On the other hand, what I like is the kindness and kindness of people in the street. When I'm in my little market in Brittany and people approach me, I find it very touching. There is a real attachment people have to cooks because they respect this profession. They know that there is no fuss, that it is manual, that it requires a lot of work.

A leader to admire?
My grandmother. She cooked lightly, with difficulty, with dented pans and dishcloths that were not very clean. Nothing was wrong and yet it was wonderful. Then I attended the Paul Bocuse school in Lyon. To me, he was like a rock star. He was on the cover of Timehe had a rooster tattooed on his shoulder. I was 15, he made me dream as much as Marlon Brando. Today some leaders are revered but at the time it was very unusual.

Your immediate news is this collaboration with Nespresso. The creation of a collection of exclusive, exceptional coffees…
It's a one-of-a-kind collection with subtle flavors, almond croissant, peanut and toasted sesame, and a more classic espresso too. In the world of cooking, coffee is not underestimated but we don't talk about it much. We imagined these three coffees for three times of the day, morning, lunch and snack. I love the one in the morning, almond croissant flavor, I love almond croissants: it's a little fatty, a little “frangipané”, it's a bit like a Galette des Rois in a croissant. Working with coffee professionals has been a magnificent adventure. We went to Colombia and Peru, we met farmers in extraordinary places, tested the coffees, discovered blends. It was an unforgettable experience.