Paris (AFP)
Chef Alexandre Mazzia was elected chef of the year by his peers, after winning the third Michelin star in early 2021 for his AM restaurant in Marseille, Chef magazine announced on Monday.
This trophy results from the vote of the professionals present in the Michelin guide to the appeal of the magazine the Chef for the one who will have "best represented the profession during the year 2021".
"The third star was already very emotional, but there, having all these great chefs in front of you, who applaud you standing, it gives goosebumps", commented the Marseille chef to AFP, on the phone: " To have his name engraved in the Pantheon of French gastronomy is a real pride, and to live that surrounded by all the profession ... "
But for Alexandre Mazzia, it was above all a real pleasure to be able to share this new distinction surrounded by part of his team, in Paris: "I am not a three-star chef, we are a three-star restaurant", he insisted.
Smoked-chocolate, raspberry-harissa eel: Alexandre Mazzia, who was born and lived in the Congo for 15 years, is the master of explosive mixtures of products "from here and from the end of the world", in plates that make the colors explode .
There is hardly any meat, the dishes are not very salty but seasoned with more than 200 spices, "backbone" of its cuisine, such as Sarawak pepper or goji berries.
This 45-year-old former basketball player experienced a meteoric rise from the opening in 2014 of the AM, hidden in a residential area in the south of Marseille, 22 seats with a minimalist decor and open to the kitchens.
In 2019, he was consecrated cook of the year 2019 by the Gault et Millau guide.
During the health crisis, he was one of the most active and creative, in particular via his food truck in Marseille with a lunch basket at 24 euros.
Aurélie Collomb-Clerc from the Flocons de Sel restaurant in Megève (3 Michelin stars) was named pastry chef of the year.
© 2021 AFP