Alan Geaam grew up in Tripoli, Lebanon, in a country at war. Two places shaped him: his father’s grocery store, where he began working at a very young age, and his mother’s kitchen, where he discovered flavors and the pleasure of bringing people together around a table. “She was the darling of the whole building, of the whole family. Everyone wanted to taste his dishes. And I said: When I grow up, I want to be like my mom. I will go cook for people to be loved and see the smile on their face. » Watching French chefs on television, he developed a passion for gastronomy and dreamed of making it his career.
During his military service, assigned to logistics because of a cataract, he naturally chose cooking. He prepares food for 4,000 soldiers. Quickly noticed, he was sent to cook for the officers.
“It’s a story you hear in the series”
When the war was over, he returned to the family grocery store, put some money aside and tried to leave for France. A first attempt failed, he was expelled while trying to enter clandestinely through Italy. In 1999, he ended up arriving in Paris thanks to a smuggler. He has 200 francs in his pocket, knows no one and doesn’t speak a word of French. By day, he does masonry and by night, he washes dishes in a Lebanese restaurant. One evening, the restaurant’s chef is injured, Alan jumps at the opportunity and replaces him. This service changed everything, he landed his first job as a cook. Self-taught, he learned French cooking techniques from books, climbing the ladder one by one until becoming a chef.
In 2007, he opened the Auberge Nicolas Flamel. Ten years later, he took the decisive step: a restaurant in his name in the 16th century, where he finally embraces his origins on the plate by mixing French and Lebanese cuisine. In 2018, the Michelin Guide awarded him a star and Alan became the first Lebanese starred chef in France: “It’s a story that we hear in series, in films, or in dreams. In any case, my life is a dream. »
