Extractions Excellent

At the forefront of French gastronomy, chef Yannick Alléno is considered one of the world’s best chefs, namely for his innovative work with sauce extraction. We met with the culinary genius during a recent visit to his restaurant STAY by Yannick Alléno at One&Only the Palm, to learn more of his leading role at the pillar of French cuisine, where he drives creativity, innovation and tradition.

- Sophie McCarrick

He was awarded three Michelin stars for his restaurant at Le Meurice hotel in Paris, his restaurant Alléno Paris was ranked 31st on the World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017 list, and his Dubai-based restaurant STAY at One&Only the Palm continues to drive forward modern French cuisine in the region. It’s safe to say that Yannick Alléno is a highly-accomplished chef.

He was introduced to cooking by his family and went on to work in some of France’s finest restaurants. Since, he has dedicated his life to being an advocate for French cuisine and in 2013 set out on an innovative culinary journey to create sauces in a purer way (more about this method he calls ‘extractions’ to follow).

Chef Yannick is also the founder of Yannick Alléno Group, a food services group that sees his work in modern French gastronomy spread across the world. In Dubai regularly to touch base with his team at STAY, here’s what chef Yannick shared with us…

When did you know that you wanted to be a chef?

From the age of eight, I knew that I wanted to be a chef. My parents had brasseries in Paris and my mum would make fantastic food. My grandmother had 13 children, so I come from a big family where food was a big thing, so it’s always been a part of my life.

At the age of 15 I started to work in the kitchen – if truth be told, I wasn’t the greatest student at school (laughs) – but my passion was always in the kitchen. Making sure being a chef was the right direction for me, my father found this first job for me by asking Gabriel Biscay, who secured a role at Relais Louis XIII with Manuel Martinez. The rest is history – I loved it!

How did it come about that you opened your restaurant here in Dubai?