PARIS — Talk about a new look.
The Christian Dior headquarters and boutique at 30 Avenue Montaigne have undergone a major makeover and have been extended with interior gardens, works of art, a gallery that will be the permanent home of the Dior retrospective that travels the world, a pastry shop and restaurant, called Monsieur Dior. There, guests can dine on fine Dior china and enjoy Dior crystal.
Dior hired Jean Imbert, the popular veteran of the French version of “Top Chef,” who runs two other restaurants on Avenue Montaigne. Last year, Mr Imbert, 40, took over the kitchens of the two restaurants in the Hôtel Plaza Athénée, opposite Dior, from Michelin-starred restaurateur Alain Ducasse. Mr Imbert’s restart of those dining rooms has attracted a lot of attention.
“I’ve never wanted to run a fashion restaurant,” Mr Imbert said of the Dior restaurant, which, like the entire complex, was designed by New York architect Peter Marino. It is a project that Mr Imbert has been quietly working on since 2019, even studying the Dior archives to understand the sensibility of the founder of the brand.
“Monsieur Dior loved real French cuisine,” said Mr Imbert. Dishes like roast chicken stuffed with herbs and fromage blanc, endive salad and poached eggs with artichoke hearts. So the menu is inspired by his favorites.”
Mr Dior himself also saw a powerful convergence between fashion and gastronomy. “The ingredients used in the kitchen are just as noble as those we use in haute couture,” he is said to have once told a friend, the chef Raymond Thuillier. “What I like about my job is that you have to unite your mind and your hands. Nothing can be perfected if the creativity of your imagination is not expressed through your hands.”
Many in the Parisian food scene were stunned when it was announced last May that he would be stepping into Mr Ducasse’s shoes. There were rumors that François Delahaye, the general manager of Plaza Athénée, would consider several chefs as successors to Mr Ducasse, but Mr Imbert’s appointment came as a surprise.
“It was time for a change,” said Mr. Delahaye. “So I decided to go for a really big change.”
Imbert, who won season 3 of “Top Chef France”, opened L’Acajou, his first restaurant, in Paris when he was only 21. runs with Pharrell Williams.
More recently, his restaurant Mamie (“grandma” in English, now closed) showcased the cooking of Nicole Imbert, his late grandmother, whom he adored. He also runs the restaurant of the hotel Le Cheval Blanc in Saint-Barthélemy, which, like Dior, is owned by LVMH.
Some in the French food world have been skeptical of the media savvy chef, including food writer and television host François-Régis Gaudry, who wrote in L’Express: “He doesn’t have the resume or experience necessary for such a job. I’m not saying he’s not talented, but there are 100 other chefs who are more experienced and work harder.”
And while others were more positive, Mr. Imbert his critics on Instagram: “You could wait to see my project and give me a chance, wouldn’t you?”
Mr Imbert has loved to cook since he was a boy growing up in the Parisian suburb of L’Haÿ-les-Roses, where his parents own a printing and bookbinding business. After high school, he was one of the youngest students ever to enroll at the prestigious Institut Paul Bocuse in Lyon at the age of 17. He then did an internship with a range of famous French chefs, including Marc Meneau and Michel Rostang, before opening his first restaurant in 2004.
The comfort food Mr Imbert introduced at Le Relais Plaza at the Hôtel Plaza Athénée has been politely praised, but his haute cuisine at Jean Imbert au Plaza Athénee has won critical acclaim, including a superlative review of Emmanuel Rubin in Le Figaro. There he showcases traditional French dishes such as lobster Bellevue and veal Orloff in the grand style of famous chefs such as François Vatel and Auguste Escoffier.
He also pays close attention to other details. “I loved working on the table settings in my new restaurants,” he said, adding, “I enjoy working on all parts of a restaurant.”
The new Dior restaurant is located right in front of L’Avenue, the brasserie that has long been the canteen of the international fashion crowd. LVMH’s executive suite also provided a steady stream of diners, but their lunch (and dinner) plans seem to be inevitably changing.