Julia Sedefdjian

Julia Sedefdjian
Born (1994-12-26) December 26, 1994 (age 30)
Nice, France
OccupationChef
Culinary career
Cooking styleFrench; Mediterranean
Rating(s)
Current restaurant(s)
  • La Baieta, Paris

Julia Sedefdjian (born 1994, in Nice, France) is a French chef.

Early life and training

Sedefdjian was born on 26 December 1994 to a real estate agent father of Armenian descent and a radiologist mother of Sicilian ancestry, in Nice, at the Alpes-Maritimes of France, and has two brothers.[1]

After abandoning her veterinarian studies, she enters, at fourteen years of age, in 2009, the École hôtelière de Nice. She obtains a Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle in cooking and then in pastry, and starts working as an apprentice at the Aphrodite restaurant of Nice under controversial[2] chef David Faure, where she learns, among other culinary ways, about molecular cuisine.[3]

In 2012, she wins the first prize in the regional competition for "Best Apprentice".[1]

Career

The same year, in 2012, she moves to Paris where she finds administrative work at the Michelin starred Les Fables de La Fontaine restaurant and, within one year, she's appointed sous-chef under Anthony David. In 2015, following David's departure, Sedefdjian takes up the top position.[4]

At Les Fables de La Fontaine, and after her total revision of the menu, she retains in 2016 the restaurant's Michelin star becoming the youngest ever chef to win the award.

After two years directing the Fontaine cuisine, Sedefdjian, taking with her sous-chef Sébastien Jean-Joseph and manager Gregory Anelka, departs to open La Baieta[n 1] in the city's 5th arrondissement. Her menu offers Mediterranean cuisine at ostensibly "affordable prices."

In 2019, La Baieta earns one star, making Sedefdjian the youngest French chef to ever win a Michelin star.[5]

As of 2022, female chefs and head cooks hold approximately one fifth of the total workforce in restaurants globally.[6] Women chefs are a small minority in top restaurants, while they are a rarity among Michelin-starred chefs world wide, as well as in France.[n 2][7][8][9]

Personal life

Sedefdjian is a lesbian and lives with her partner, Adélie. In 2021, they had a child born by Adélie through assisted reproductive technology in Portugal.[10][n 3][11]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "La Baieta" means "the kiss" in the Nice dialect.
  2. ^ As of 2021, there were only thirty women chefs who have been awarded at least one Michelin star. Among chefs in more than two thousand Michelin-starred restaurants across sixteen countries, as well as in the top-hundred restaurants in the world, as ranked by The World's 50 Best Restaurants, women chefs are approximately 6% of the total. See Restaurant Online (2022).
  3. ^ In France, the procedure was not yet legally extended to lesbian couples or single women. See The Guardian (2021).

References

  1. ^ a b Durand-Souffland, Stéphane (February 20, 2016). "Moi, Julia Sedefdjian, 21 ans, chef étoilée" [Me, Julia Sedefdjian, 21 years, starred chef]. Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  2. ^ Ruitenberg, Rudy (May 13, 2013). "French Chef Puts Crickets on Menu in Push to Use Insects as Food". Bloomberg News. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  3. ^ Renault, Gilles (June 16, 2016). "Julia Sedefdjian, piano forte" [Me, Julia Sedefdjian, 21 years, starred chef]. Libération (in French). Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  4. ^ Hochberg, Juliette (February 3, 2016). "Julia Sedefdjian, 21 ans et plus jeune chef étoilée de France" [Julia Sedefdjian, 21 years old and France's youngest starred chef]. Madame Figaro (in French). Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  5. ^ "La Niçoise Julia Sedefdjian obtient sa première étoile au Guide Michelin pour son restaurant Le Baieta à Paris" [Julia Sedefdjian obtains her first Michelin Gujide star for her Paris restaurant Le Baieta]. Nice-Matin (in French). January 21, 2019. Retrieved August 25, 2024.
  6. ^ "Chefs & head cooks". Data USA. 2023. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  7. ^ "Just 6% of the world's top restaurants are led by women, study finds". Restaurant Online. July 20, 2022. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  8. ^ Ulea, Anca (March 19, 2024). "'Where are the women?' asks Michelin Guide head as 2024's French restaurant guide is announced". Euronews. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  9. ^ Crowe Pettersson, Clare (March 28, 2024). "It's Time for Michelin to Break the Glass Ceiling". World Chefs. Retrieved August 27, 2024.
  10. ^ Quenet, Marie (June 6, 2021). "Julia et Adélie ont fait leur PMA au Portugal : 'C'est magique, cette maternité partagée!'" [Julia and Adélie did their [assisted reproductive technology] in Portugal : 'It's magical, this shared motherhood!']. Le Journal du Dimanche (in French). Retrieved August 28, 2024.
  11. ^ "French parliament votes to extend IVF rights to lesbians and single women". The Guardian. Agence France Press. July 29, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2024.