| Born | November 3, 1958 Nantes, France |
|---|---|
| Official website | |
| http://www.gillesepie.com | |
Gilles Epié is a leading French chef. Born in Nantes, France, he was the youngest chef to receive the prestigious Michelin Star when he was 22 years old[1]. He currently owns and runs Citrus Etoile along with his wife in Paris.
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Gilles Epie started working at the age of 14 and trained with Alain Senderens and Alain Ducasse at Lucas-Carton in Paris[2]; After he traveled the world and learned its cuisine he returned to Paris. It was here that he received the Michelin Star in 1989 for his restaurant Le Miravile. He was the youngest chef to receive the same[3][4].
He continued working at Paris and was the chef at several top restaurants likes Miravile (owner), Paris; La Petite Cour, St. Germain, Paris [5]. After mastering Paris, he left in 1995 to explore US cuisine, speaking not a word of English. He worked as the head chef of L’Orangerie, Los Angeles where he introduced a Provencal-inspired style of cooking. Within a year was voted the Best Chef In America of 1996 by Food & Wine Magazine[5][6][3]. He took the restaurant from empty tables to being booked in advance, and single handedly took that establishment from a three-star to a five-star restaurant within six months [6].
Later, he bought and operated the Beverly Hills restaurant Chez Gilles along with a partner Jean Denoyer[7].
With the culinary fusion of French/ California dishes, he has impressed a lot of movie stars, supermodels and politicians across the world. He has catered Frank Sinatra 80th birthday; Catered Sophia Loren’s birthday; Cooked a Presidents Dinner for George Bush, Bill Clinton, Ronald Reagan and Gerald Ford. He cooked for the King of Sweden, Shiek of Qatar, Bruce Springsteen, Slash, Sharon Stone, Gregory Peck, Richard Gere, Elizabeth Taylor and Princess Diana[4].
After 10 years in the United States, Epie's decided to return to the Paris after his dream restaurant location opened up. He tried a couple of canteens before opening Citrus Etoile in 2005 along with his wife, former model/ actress, Elizabeth Epié. He named the restaurant in honour of his friend Michel Richard and his Los Angeles restaurant, Citrus.[8][4][9].
Currently, Chef Epié is also the expert food correspondent for the BBC. He shall join MSC cruise in 2012 as an one of the five European chefs[10].
Epie creates classic French dishes with American accents. California influenced Epie's style of cooking and he cooking for those who did not want to put on weight. So he started taking on Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Mexican dishes[9]. He is known for his rich bold tastes that he creates without butter or cream. [4].
He also explains that the secret to a great dish is always using fresh ingredients[6].
Because his kitchen has people visiting from across the world, Chef Epié does not use pork. He doesn’t believe in chefs who claim to have recipes passed down through generations or secret ingredients. He also has an online cookbook that is free for anyone to use[4].