Akrame Benallal is a chef born in 1981 in France and who grew up in Oran, Algeria. Raised by his mother, he inherits from her the love of cooking: his dishes must be imbued with feelings. He spent his childhood in Algeria, but later returned to France where he was born. He spent his apprenticeship in Molineuf in the Loir-et-Cher and took his first steps at the Orangerie of Château de Blois before joining the team of Pierre Gagnaire, a three-star chef. He also went through the Elysées restaurant at Vernet in Paris and then did a season at El Bulli at Ferran Adria in Spain. In 2005, he became chef for the first time, at the Château des 7 Tours in Touraine, before taking over the Trendy Lounge in Tours, which he renamed Atelier d’Akrame. Although it is designated “Big of tomorrow” by Gault and Millau, the financial liabilities of Trendy do not allow to continue this adventure, it must then close its doors. This does not discourage Akrame Benallal, always full of energy and projects, since he opened his eponymous restaurant, the Akrame, rue Lauriston in Paris, where he offers refined and surprising cuisine: he received a first Michelin star in 2012, just one year after it opened. He took the opportunity to create Atelier Vivanda, a meat bistro, and, in 2013, a second Akrame in Hong Kong. He felt so good in rue Lauriston that he also opened a wine cellar and cheese bar, which he soberly called Brut. In 2014, the Parisian Akrame obtained a second star, which he unfortunately lost in 2016. Akrame Benallal is very busy since he also opened two other Vivanda in Paris and Hong Kong and worked on a large number of projects, such as the Mad’leine corner. Generosity, inventiveness, surprise: Akrame Benallal’s desire is above all not to be bored.

A serial entrepreneur who opened one Michelin-star restaurant Akrame in Paris, Atelier Vivanda steak bistros in Paris, Hong Kong, Manila and Baku, the Silk Road-inspired Shirvan restaurant, Brut wine and cheese bar, Panivanda panini shop, Mad’leine pastry stand, A’Plum organic cafe and three corners in Printemps department store’s food hall, Akrame Benallal has always dreamed big, believes that nothing is impossible and continually reinvents himself every day. Born in France and raised in Algeria, he’s known for his contemporary and ultra-creative style of cooking imbued with emotion, having worked with Ferran Adrià of El Bulli and Pierre Gagnaire in 2004. Following an inspiring encounter with Anna, an olive grower in the northern Italian province of Liguria, he created the flavored olive oil Caractère with taggiasche olives and wild Voatsiperifery black pepper from Madagascar, best experienced with a piece of sourdough bread.