Gilles Epié is a French chef who was the youngest chef in the world to receive a Michelin Star at the age of 22.[1] He was the owner and executive chef of Citrus Etoile restaurant in Paris near the Champs-Élysées which he operated with his wife Elizabeth from 2005 to 2017.[2] As of 2022, he works as the executive chef of L'Avant-Garde, a modern French brasserie in Georgetown, Washington, D.C..[3]
Career
Born in Nantes, Epié started working at the age of 14 and trained with Alain Senderens and Alain Ducasse at Lucas-Carton in Paris.[4] He received his first Michelin Star in 1980 at Le Pavillon des Princes, near Paris.[5]
In 1995, Epié worked as head chef of the French restaurant L'Orangerie in Los Angeles.[5][6] He left in 1997 to operate the Beverly Hills restaurant Chez Gilles, which he purchased along with partner Jean Denoyer.[7]
In 2005 Epié returned to Paris with his wife and opened the Citrus Etoile restaurant. In April 2013, Epié opened Frenchy's, a Parisian-style brasserie within Charles de Gaulle Airport's International Terminal 2.[8] In 2018, Epié sold Citrus Etoile, moved to the United States, and became the corporate executive chef at Juvia, Miami Beach.[9] In 2019, he became the culinary director and executive chef of the Montage Beverly Hills Hotel.[10]
Epié also took part in various celebrity chef events in France and the United States from 2012 through 2019.[11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] He and his wife Elizabeth have starred in two French shows, one of which featured his restaurant Citrus Etoile.[19][20][21]
