Jean Imbert gets his revenge! If the 40-year-old star chef does not express it with these words, his message posted on Instagram on July 1, 2022 says a lot about his state of mind, a year after taking over the stoves of the Parisian palace in the 8th arrondissement. borough, the Plaza Athenée. At the time, he had received particularly virulent criticism …
Posing in front of the entrance to the famous establishment, Jean Imbert wrote in the caption of his publication: “1 year today since I took office at Plaza Athenée ! I’m not going to go back over the genesis and the noise it made [il prenait la suite d’Alain Ducasse, ndlr]. Just today, when I look in the rearview mirror, see the world at @lerelaisplaza, the star in 9 weeks at @jeanimbertauplazaathenee [il a été salué par le Guide Michelin, ndlr]the success of the Cour Jardin, the hotel almost always full etc.. and the management who just told me that we had the best month of June in the history of the restaurants at the Plaza!“The cook, revealed by the broadcast Top chef on M6, thus breaking a historic record which drives the point home a little more as to its success within the Plaza when he had been able to read horrors about him.
Indeed, the divisive food critic François-Régis Gaudry had notably declared at the time: “He has neither the CV nor the experience necessary for such a position. I’m not saying he’s not talented, though, but there are hundreds of chefs more experienced than him, more hardworking. He likes bling-bling, famous people, money… He has a talent for sass, social networks, selfies and knowing how to surround himself well.“While Jean Imbert was obviously chosen partly because his name attracts crowds, one can imagine that in the event of taste disappointment, word of mouth would have been bad over the months and that customers would not then be so numerous. …