IT TAKES A VILLAGE

He is one of the most successful chefs of his generation, but for Odette chef-owner Julien Royer, his path to culinary stardom would not have been possible without the people he encountered along the way

- Dudi Aureus

The idea of a self-made man does not appeal to Julien Royer, as it implies that one's success is purely their own making. That, he believes, is far from the journey that has made him one of the most decorated culinary stars of his generation. Sitting in the private room of Odette, his three-Michelinstarred modern French restaurant and Tatler Dining's Restaurant of the Year 2024 awardee, before another busy Tuesday lunch service, Royer tells us that everything he has achieved in his more than two-decade career is the result of the inspiring and impactful people in his life. From his family to his mentors, fellow chefs and current "dream team", they have all helped shape the person and the chef that he is today.

It was through legendary French chef Michel Bras, the owner of three-Michelin-starred restaurant Le Suquet in Laguiole, France-where he staged after culinary school-that Royer first realised how cooking can be simple yet also "elevated and refined", from the way the culinary team would transform nature's best bounty into exquisite haute creations. "It was the first time that I worked in a three-Michelin-starred restaurant-and I never knew you could go that far with [French] cuisine," he says.

Only the finest produce harvested from around the restaurant was used, and nothing was wasted in cooking. He learnt this as a young and wide-eyed cook in Bras' kitchen when he was tasked to clean spinach. "I was removing the green parts from the stems and Michel Bras' mum, Angèle, came by and looked at my bin and saw some of the leaves still attached to the stem," recalls Royer, "and she said out loud, 'Look what this young kid threw into the bin... we can still use them" She took out the leaves from the bin, washed them properly, and cooked them into the most amazing food that the chefs enjoyed, he tells us.