Guillaume Gomez

In this section, La Grivoise, we examine a personality from the world of the art of living through a few questions. History to discover unsuspected facets of our guests. The cheeky.

Guillaume Gomez, one of the capital's most charismatic chefs, officiated at the Élysée Palace until 2021. Since 1997, he had managed a brigade of 25 people and overseen both daily menus and official ceremonies.

Text: Leslie Gogois
Portrait: Oriana Fenwick

My untruth (what we imagine about you and which is not true) As I am quite present on social networks, people imagine knowing everything about me. But this is totally false; I never talk about my family, my life, I don't give the name of my dog, besides I don't have one… My communication always remains centered around products and transmission. I challenge anyone to have seen anything about my personal life on social media! And even professionally, I reveal only a tiny part of my life, whether for reasons of confidentiality or otherwise.

My hidden secret (a little mania, a cute sin…) So, I have to find something to confess… (Laughs). Every night, before going to bed, I eat at least a square of chocolate, sometimes more. It's often dark chocolate, but not always. Right now, I'm devouring the tablets Sébastien Bouillet gave me. A real cute sin. And otherwise, I never fall asleep without reading a few pages… There, I am immersed in Valérie Tong Cuong's Inner Wars.

My greatest love in life is… My family, without hesitation. But since I never talk about my life, don't try to find out more!

What I really don't know how to do… Do you have space in your interview? Because it would be much shorter to list what I can do! For example, I've never been able to climb a rope, or go out on a wakeboard, or hold on to a skateboard. There are a host of things I've tried but haven't been successful with.

If I had led another life… I couldn't have led another life! I will cook all the time, always. Unlike many chefs, I have no food memories as a child. One of my grandmothers cooked hamburgers and Lunor potatoes for me in Montreuil, and my other grandmother, in Spain, didn't cook well either. And yet, I always wanted to do this job. I remember that in kindergarten, I was the only one disguised as a cook among pirates and princesses. It is also surely my greatest opportunity in life: to have always known the profession that I wanted to exercise. And also to have come across enthusiasts, who transmitted the right values ​​to me, and in particular Johny Benariac, my apprentice boss, at the head of the restaurant La Traversière in Paris.

The bonus question: what are the recipes that you prepare the most at the Élysée? What I can tell you is that there is no recipe that we realize more than others! Our objective is to represent the terroir and the French territory, including Dom-Tom. All influences inspire us, the cuisine of the islands, Lyon, Alsatian, even if the Ile-de-France obviously represents an important part because we work with many producers located less than 100 km from Paris. But for all that, we don't forbid ourselves anything, I can just as easily cook a chicken from the Landes, a black hen from Alsace, a poultry from Sarthe or Bresse. No routine at the Élysée, and that is precisely what is interesting. Here, we don't serve Parma ham, white truffles or Jabugo, that's not our role. All breeders and farmers in France can always count on us!