ESCP ALUMNI magazine - Special Issue 2022 - 36

Career ❙ Big Interview
to host their events during the fashion
week. We realised we had done something
different. Few restaurants put so much effort
and accuracy into decoration and service
set design. The bar was also a unique
festive touch. We quickly had one of the
best turnovers for a restaurant in Paris. It
was much better than expected, so we kept
going this way.
All your restaurants have their
own specific concepts. But is there
a common point in terms of cuisine?
Though they all offer various types of
food, there is an overall coherence, a
common DNA that revolves around a wellestablished
process, specific methods, and
an almost military organisation. When we
visit a place for the first time, we set the
measures of the kitchen and the rooms so
that every inch is optimised, and everything
is perfect. We want to offer a refined yet
simple and accessible cooking style. Our
clients are not in search of complexity, these
are not gourmet restaurants.
Girafe is in front of the Eiffel Tower,
Monsieur Bleu is at the foot of the
Palais de Tokyo, CoCo is inside the
Opera. What do you do to set your
restaurants in such places?
Our goal is obviously to find the best spots
in the city, unique places with a high volume
and as much space inside as outside. But
in Paris, they are public places. No private
individual owns places like this. So, we have
developed an expertise on public works
concessions for these magical places. We
have worked a lot on this, we were on every
call for bids and have grown true expertise
by working on these aspects. That's how
we have managed to set our restaurants
in amazing spots. It is a win-win model
because the licensor earns a licence fee
based on a share of the restaurant's yearly
turnover. In some cases, our restaurants
make them earn a lot of money just like
that. It is a real asset for them because they
can reinvest in their own projects. Plus, it is
great for the restaurant, for its life and, at the
end of the day, even for the city's dynamism
and image.
But aren't these spots rare to find?
They are. We want big, roomy places but
we are aware we won't always get places
as wonderful as Girafe, for instance. Hence
the current evolution of our model. Now, we
want to capitalise on our concepts; we are
developing and diversifying our best brands,
and we are setting them in key cities. We
want to be where our clients travel and
where hospitality, catering and party-life
are huge. We have been working this out
for 3 or 4 years. Another Piaf restaurant is
opening soon in Courchevel, same for Gigi
in Megève. We also want to open restaurants
in Dubai and London.
The COVID-19 pandemic must
have been a bummer for your
expansion...
It has, but Bruno Lemaire has done a lot
for restaurants. Short-time working and
government loans have helped us save jobs.
Of course, we have lost a lot of money and
had to put some projects on hold, but we are
ready to resume.
We have talked about your
international growth and your
restaurants. What is next?
After night-time hospitality, catering, and
event-hosting, we are going to invest in the
hotel trade. It is exciting and it was natural
for us as we already know how to do it,
except for rooming. Accor invested in our
capital a few years ago. We work in synergy
with the same ambition as when we start a
restaurant, i.e., making unique, wonderful
places. For instance, we have just started
working on the layout of the Abbaye des
Vaux de Cernay, near Rambouillet. We are
making the most beautiful countryside
hotel ever.
❙
We want to be
where our clients
travel and where
hospitality,
catering and
party-life are
huge.
36 ❙
ESCP Alumni Magazine Special issue ❙ 2022
ESCP ALUMNI magazine - Special Issue 2022

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