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Georgiana Viou

French chef from Benin (born 1977) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Georgiana Viou (born 1977) is a French chef from Benin. Viou specializes in Mediterranean cuisine with an African touch. In 2023, she became the first black female chef in France to be awarded a Michelin star. She is a judge for the French version of MasterChef and a cookbook author.

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Biography

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Early life and education

Georgiana Viou was born in 1977 in Cotonou, Benin. Growing up in Benin, she learned to cook from her mother.[1] She moved to Paris at age 22 to study languages at the Sorbonne.[2] Her dream was to be a conference translator.[3] With the birth of her first child, she rekindled her fascination with cooking, and soon began to gain experience by working in restaurant kitchens.[4][5]

After graduation, she moved to Marseille, where she worked in a communications agency during the day and in restaurants at night, where she began to develop her cooking skills.[2] Viou is self-taught, and credits her time in Marseille's restaurant kitchens for teaching her everything she knew.[4]

Professional Chef

At age 33, Viou left her translation work behind to work full time in kitchens.[1] In 2008, Viou was first seen on television when taking part in the first season of Un dîner presque parfait [fr]. Encouraged by friends, she applied for the French television program MasterChef, where she reached the finals.[2]

In 2011, she opened her first cooking school and restaurant, “L'Atelier de Georgiana”. The same year she released her first book, “Géorgiana - Ma cuisine de Marseille”.[2] Viou's cuisine is Mediterranean, specifically Provençal, but influenced from her roots in Benin.[3] She does not regard her technique as fusion cuisine, which she considers "messy".[6] In 2015, Viou opened Chez Georgiana, but it closed the next year after differences with investors.[4]

Rouge

In 2021, she opened “Rouge”, a restaurant and bar in Nîmes.[7][8] At Rouge she was awarded the prestigious Grand de Demain award from Gault & Millau. This year she additionally published her second book, “Le goût de Cotonou, ma cuisine du Bénin”.[9]

In 2022, she returned to television for the new series of MasterChef, this time as a judge.[10][11]

In 2023, Rouge and head chef Viou received a Michelin star.[4][12] With the honor, Viou became the first black female chef in France to be awarded a Michelin star.[2] She was the only single woman chef to receive a Michelin star in 2023.[1]

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Publications

  • 2011 Géorgiana - Ma cuisine de Marseille ISBN 978-2357200647
  • 2021 Le goût de Cotonou - Ma cuisine du Bénin ISBN 978-2379450655

See also

References

External links

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