Le Grand Restaurant **

The Portrait of the Chef

Born on 25 September 1970 in Valence, Jean-François Piège has established himself in just a few years as one of the greatest chefs of his generation. It was while having lunch in Jacques Pic's restaurant that the young Jean-François Piège decided to become a cook. After completing his training at the hotel school in Tain l'Hermitage, he gained solid experience with leading names in the gastronomic world.

In 1989, the young chef joined chef Christian Constant at the helm of the Crillon restaurant. But the call of military service pushed him into the kitchens of the Elysée (Official Residence of the President) where he met chef Joël Normands. Having accomplished his duty, he flew to Monaco to work alongside Laurent Gras in the restaurant Le Louis XV, whose owner is none other than Alain Ducasse. With a particularly sharp eye, he quickly detected the talent of the young chef.

In 2000, he entrusted him with the management of the Plaza Athénée restaurant for which Jean-François Piège won his first Michelin star. As if to complete the circle and crowned with this consecration, Jean-François Piège agreed in 2005 to manage the Crillon restaurant in which he began his training. 

In 2009, he took over the Thoumieux brasserie with his associate Thierry Costes, above which he created a gourmet restaurant that will be awarded two Michelin stars in 2011.

The Restaurant

Le Grand Restaurant, a singular gastronomy.

Opened in 2018 and situated in the heart of the Parisian Gold Triangle, Le Grand Restaurant is avant-garde restaurant, an alchemist’s laboratory dedicated to art of gastronomy. Jean-François Piège confirms his convictions inspired by French gastronomy, proud of its values and heritage but always looking to the future, never the past. His singularity and heart of the matter was to open “his” own French Grand Restaurant. The experience here is unique, with meticulous and innovative new cooking methods such as the “Mijotés Modernes” process (ingredients layered over other ingredients such as the lobster cooked on crustaceous shells, or lightly grilled sweetbreads on walnut shells). These dishes are all part of what you will experience at the Grand Restaurant.

As soon as you pass through the metallic lace door where you see a plan of Paris, you are immediately touched by the intellectual atmosphere and immaterial territory of the Chef. You then walk into the kitchen like walking into his home, before settling yourself in the small intimate 10-table room with a strong identity, designed in collaboration with Gulla Jonsdottir: decorated with noble and raw materials, a convergence of wood and concrete. Don’t need to look up to discover the magnificent stained glass windows designed with geometrical lines, art-deco inspired but terribly modern. This interior also illustrates Jean-Francois Piège’s thinking and cooking, for which he was awarded in 2016 two stars by the Guide Michelin.

Le Grand Restaurant (2 Michelin stars)
7, rue d’Aguesseau - Paris VIII