Fired for an episode of hazing, the French star chef Aurelien Largeau of the Hotel du Palais in Biarritz defends himself and denies the accusations. “I formally contest the accusations made against me by some media and I would like to state that the facts reported do not reflect reality at all,” the 31-year-old chef explained to 'France Bleu Pays Basque'. Largeau was fired by the Hyatt group (which described what happened as a “concerning incident” that does not represent our values) which runs the restaurant that won a Michelin star last year.
For Largeau, who is considered one of the most promising chefs in France and who was hired in 2020 to lead the gourmet restaurant of the luxury hotel, the facts reported on what happened last December 2 in the kitchen regarding an “alleged humiliating hazing incident against a kitchen assistant are false and defamatory.”
According to what was reported by the French press and in particular by the newspaper SudOuest, on December 2nd for several hours a young kitchen assistant was tied naked to a chair with an apple in his mouth and a carrot between his buttocks, all in front of the members of the guided brigade right from Largeau. According to the French press, the images were recorded and shared on social media before being removed. Largeau in response to the solicitations of 'France Bleu Pays Basque' stated “that I condemn any mistreatment, hazing or humiliation within a kitchen brigade and I will never associate myself with such behaviour”. The chef says he is “devastated” by the impact of this story on his image and honor.
Even Lucas, the kitchen assistant who is said to be at the center of the hazing episode, denies what happened: “It was a simple joke between friends.” “The only phone calls I receive – he explains to the microphones of 'France Bleu Pays Basque' – are those from my former boss, Aurélien Largeau, who asks me how I am experiencing all this. People talk about me with a carrot in my buttocks and with a apple in the mouth, but it's not true”, explains the young man, who adds that he can no longer sleep and is the victim of attacks on social media.
Lucas, who left Biarritz in recent days, explains that he has “started my new job and when I go around the club (in Paris) I am judged harshly”, he insists. “All I can say is that I left of my own free will. It was a joke between friends that took on enormous media proportions.”
Meanwhile, the Bayonne Prosecutor's Office, on its own initiative, opened a judicial investigation into the allegations of sexual assault and violence. Contacted by the French newspaper 'Libération', prosecutor Jérôme Bourrier said he had not received any complaints so far. The prosecutor's office responded that he only had “the elements provided by the Sud-Ouest newspaper”.
#Top #chef #trouble #hazing #assistant #naked #tied #kitchen