PORTRAIT OF CHEF MICHAËL MICHAELIDIS, A CAREER UNDER THE STARS (United States)
Chef Michaelidis, who boasts a glorious track record, began a new stage in his race for the stars a few months ago. We take a closer look at this Cannes-based chef who has become a starred citizen of the world. |
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PORTRAIT OF CHEF MICHAËL MICHAELIDIS, A CAREER UNDER THE STARS (United States)
Chef Michaelidis, who boasts a glorious track record, began a new stage in his race for the stars a few months ago. We take a closer look at this Cannes-based chef who has become a starred citizen of the world. |
Category: North America & West Indies / Carribean islands - United States - Interviews and portraits
- Gourmet restaurants
- Gourmet restaurants - Interviews - Industry leaders
Interview made by Vanessa Guerrier-Buisine on 2024-05-31
 Chef Michaël Michaelidis wants to win Michelin stars for Riviera Dining Group
Photo credit © Riviera Dining Group
Michael Michaelidis' career began on the French Riviera. Born to a Greek father and a Dutch mother, Michaël Michaelidis discovered his passion at an early age. From the age of 14, during a pre-apprenticeship at the CFA (apprentice training centre) in Cannes, he tasted the pleasures of sharing “the plates” with other apprentices. With Moroccan, Algerian, and Tunisian cuisine, his gastronomic culture was nurtured from an early age by his origins and Mediterranean cuisine.
His dream of becoming a Michelin-starred chef soon led him to one of the most emblematic restaurants on the French Riviera in the 1990s, La Belle Otéro, the two-star restaurant at the Carlton Cannes, run by chef Francis Chauveau. “It was the army. I wanted to enter this world and become a Michelin-starred chef”; he recalls with gentle nostalgia.
An early passion and a star career
His career took off in renowned properties on the French Riviera, including L'Oasis in Mandelieu, with the Raimbault brothers, and La Palme d'Or, the two-star restaurant at the Hotel Martinez in Cannes, run by Christian Willer. At the age of 22, he joined the prestigious Hotel de Paris, and Alain Ducasse's prestigious Louis XV in Monaco, where he stayed for over four years. This experience opened the door to an international career.
In 2007, Michaël dreamt of flying to the United States, but the economic crisis closed the door on his visa and put the brakes on his plans. So, he embarked on a new facet of his career, putting his talent to work for billionaires.
A stopover as a private chef
Michaël became a private chef on board yachts, for ship owning families and royalty. Tunisia, the Italian Riviera, Sardinia, The Balearics, Corsica, Malta, and Greece are just some of the many destinations he visited, where he shopped, tasted local produce, and learned from every discovery.
It's an experience that brings him closer to his Greek roots and allows him to perfect his tailor-made cuisine. Here, the challenges vary, from preparing menus “forfour guests, to cooking 150 covers on his own”. And a lifestyle to adopt, that of billionaire guests. “I often travelled in a Boeing 747 fitted out for this Saudi family. On board, I would prepare dishes on Versace crockery, and we would uncork bottles of Pétrus,” he recalls
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Paris, London, New York, from mansion to villa, via private islands… the places where he worked changed as quickly as his menus, created according to the local markets. He cooked for diamond dealers, royalty, and diplomats, with “all the excellence at the service of the most exclusive guests of the time”.
With the call of the stars still being felt, he took a new turn and turned towards the Orient, joining the Spoon by Alain Ducasse in Hong Kong in 2011. His mission: to obtain a second star for the property, a challenge he met in just eight months. It was also in Hong Kong that he met Joël Robuchon, his future mentor, and set off for the kitchens of his Atelier.
Twelve years with Joël Robuchon
Michaël Michaelidis spent twelve years with the Robuchon Group, a period that forged his commitment to excellence and innovation. “Keeping the three stars for Joël Robuchon was a big gamble. We had constant pressure to share with the executive chef”, he recounts. For him, working with the world's most Michelin-starred chef means acquiring unrivalled rigour and precision.
And, the chef recalls, “He had eyes in the back of his head. He could be in Las Vegas, and call us up to say, 'there's this Companion of duty sitting there, there's this regular guest, who wants this jelly a la minute, trembling, you won't put 15 grams, but 20 grams for him because he likes it that way'. He was out of the country and yet knew what was going on in his restaurant”.
As the two men built up a real trust, Michaël took on more responsibilities within the group, rising from the position of head chef to executive chef, before becoming culinary director in Tokyo. “Joël Robuchon let me take the reins of the restaurant, even though I was an outsider. I had to use my strength, my intelligence, and my patience to get the job,” he recalls. While still working in Joël Robuchon's restaurant in Singapore, Michaël Michaelidis met Grégory Galy, who had just founded the Riviera Dining Group in Miami. Galy invited him to join him, but Chef Michaelidis had a starred path ahead of him.
From Hong Kong to Tokyo, via Singapore, he contributed to the international renown of the Robuchon group's properties, always in the shadow of a mentor who was very present, even from a distance. His time in Asia enabled him to immerse himself in new culinary techniques and develop a unique fusion cuisine, which he is now applying to his new adventure. “Here, I mix the Mediterranean with Asia: branzino, stuffed with fennel seeds, with pesto, which is flambéed in front of the guest”, he explains.
A new epic in Miami
After the death of Joël Robuchon in 2018, there was a complete rethink. “It was a shock for the culinary world. I did a lot of soul-searching myself, and with the investors of the Tokyo restaurant, where I was chef at the time. I'm not Joël Robuchon, but I have his know-how”, he recalls, moved.
Michaël Michaelidis then decided to join Grégory Galy in Miami, accompanied, and supported by his Filipino wife. The opportunity for him to make his own mark was too great. “I wanted to put excellence at the service of a new guest in Miami,” he says. His new role as partner and culinary director should enable him to achieve his goals and express himself to the full. Determined to develop innovative and vibrant restaurant concepts, it is at Mila, with its 3,500 covers a week, that he is sharpening his knives as soon as he arrives.
Within the group, plans to open new restaurants are growing fast, but in a sensible way. The chef is already overseeing the opening of restaurants such as Claudie, with its Côte d'Azur identity, or Casa Neos, the group's most ambitious project, including two restaurants, one of which is Noora, with a Moroccan identity, and offering a range of facilities from a boutique hotel to a beach club
But Michal also wants to win Michelin stars for the group.So, he developed the Mila Omakase restaurant in the Mila flagship, a “ten-cover counter offering a unique culinary experience combining Mediterranean and Japanese cuisine. Guests can discover a menu of 13 to 15 courses over a two-hour experience, at $195 per person. That's where I'm really aiming for excellence, and to win a Michelin star for the group,” he says.
For Michaël, passing on know-how is essential. “Passing on skills is very important, because our wonderful profession must continue. The future generations we train will have to carry on the torch”, he asserts. He is therefore planning to set up a training school within the group to train the chefs of tomorrow.
“Excellence is a quest for perfection. You must challenge yourself every day to become a great chef”, says Michael. It's a quest for excellence that the chef is keen to remind his teams of. For him, choosing fresh ingredients and having a close-knit team are the keys to success. A success that he owes to his clearly defined values: “heart, discipline and sharing”.
“To be a good chef, you have to have heart, know how to love your guests and serve them as if they were your beloved mother,” he concludes.
 Mila, the flagship of Riviera Dining Group
Photo credit © Riviera Dining Group
 Chef Michaël Michaelidis is the culinary director of the Riviera Dining Group.
Photo credit © Riviera Dining Group
 The branzino flambé illustrates Mila's gourmet and festive atmosphere
Photo credit © Riviera Dining Group
 Over 3,500 guests are served each week at Mila
Photo credit © Riviera Dining Group
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