Amandine Chaignot (born 1 May 1979) is a French

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a kitche ...

Early life and education

The daughter of a

scientist A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences. In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...

, Amandine was an excellent student, first in her class, who obtained her high school final exam one year in advance. In 1996, she began studying in

pharmacy Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links heal ...

at the Faculté de Pharmacie but quit in 1998 and reoriented herself in culinary training.

Professional career

She began working as a waitress in a

pizzeria A pizzeria is a restaurant focusing on pizza. As well as pizza, dishes at pizzerias can include kebab, salads and pasta. Many pizzerias offer take-away, where the customer orders their food either in advance or at the restaurant and then take ...

. She later opened a

tearoom A teahouse (mainly Asia) or tearoom (also tea room) is an establishment which primarily serves tea and other light refreshments. A tea room may be a room set aside in a hotel especially for serving afternoon tea, or may be an establishment whic ...

and then registered at the

École Grégoire-Ferrandi École Grégoire-Ferrandi is one of France's leading professional training schools located in the 6th arrondissement of Paris in a 25000 sq. m. site. Its culinary school is called École Supérieure de Cuisine Française (ESCF) The school offers ...

. She did her training course at the Maison de l'Aubrac and then at Prune (one macaron at the

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes ''région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and la ...

), where she was chosen as a chef assistant to participate at the

Bocuse d'Or The Bocuse d'Or (the ''Concours mondial de la cuisine'', World Cooking Contest) is a biennial world chef championship. Named for the chef Paul Bocuse, the event takes place during two days near the end of January in Lyon, France, at the SIRHA Inter ...

. She worked for three years at the Plaza Athénée with

Jean-François Piège Jean-François Piège (born 25 September 1970) is a French chef, two stars at the Guide Michelin. Training and career In 1991, he started working as a chef assistant for ten months at the Palais de l'Élysée during his military service. He wor ...

and at The Ritz Hotel in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. She then worked for three years with Éric Fréchon. She pursued working at the

Hôtel Meurice Le Meurice () is a Brunei-owned five-star luxury hotel in the 1st arrondissement of Paris opposite the Tuileries Garden, between Place de la Concorde and the Musée du Louvre on the Rue de Rivoli. From the Rue de Rivoli, it stretches to the Rue ...

with Yannick Alléno and later at the

Hôtel de Crillon Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel () is a historic luxury hotel in Paris which opened in 1909 in a building dating to 1758. Located at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, the Crillon, along with the Hôtel de la Marine, is one of two identical st ...

for two years. She is currently the chef of the restaurant Pouliche in Paris.

MasterChef

Since September 2013, she has been a member of the jury in the fourth season of the French version of '' MasterChef'' with chefs

Frédéric Anton Frédéric Anton (, born 15 October 1964) is a French chef, Meilleur Ouvrier de France and three stars at the Guide Michelin since 2007. He was the chef of the restaurant ''Le Pré Catelan'' in the 16th arrondissement of Paris. He is now the chef ...

, Yves Camdeborde and journalist Sébastien Demorand. She also appeared as a guest in the previous season in 2012.

References

External links

Official site of Amandine Chaignot
1979 births French chefs People from Essonne Living people {{France-bio-stub