Like mother, like son — the proverb doesn’t exist, which is a shame, because it would fit Franck Pelux perfectly. At seven or eight, little Franck already knew he wanted to be a cook. His mother, Rabia Pelux, was not yet at the stove of the family business in Autun in Burgundy, but front-of-house manager. «In four months, three chefs left the restaurant. So my mother decided to take charge herself — the only problem was that she couldn’t cook. For two or three months she managed only salads.»
What followed shows how determination can change a destiny: «My mother called every three-star restaurant in Burgundy to land an internship. She did about twenty training courses with the Meilleurs Ouvriers de France and developed a passion for the craft.» At the side of this fighter, Franck the apprentice became a cook. Straight after qualifying he began his career at the one-Michelin-star Charlemagne, alongside Laurent Peugeot — and there met his current partner, Sarah Benahmed. He was nineteen, she sixteen; they became a couple two years later.
Crucial years in Asia
Seasons in renowned houses followed — summers in Saint-Tropez with Arnaud Donckele, winters in Courchevel — then the leap into the unknown: Laurent Peugeot entrusted the couple with opening his first restaurant abroad. «At 23 I was head chef in Singapore. I learned so much, and we made friends for life.» In their free time they discovered the city-state’s food courts and hawker centres: «Chicken feet Chinese-style, adobo from the Philippines, real Japanese ramen.» The couple then ran a restaurant in Beijing for two years — 16-hour days in heat and humidity, and at night the ride home together on electric scooters through the deserted city.
«Top Chef» as a career springboard
It was in Asia that M6 came looking for Pelux for the eighth season of «Top Chef», in 2017. He reached the final without winning — yet the television adventure became a springboard: Pelux was hired as chef at the Crocodile in Strasbourg, retaining its Michelin star in 2018 and 2019, before the call to La Table du Lausanne Palace, where he became head chef and Sarah Benahmed front-of-house manager. «Even today, half the guests mention my time on TV. The reach of that show is crazy.»
What inspires Pelux most is Asian cuisine: «I want to offer special dishes you won’t find anywhere else.» He and Sarah talk a lot about recipes — happily on the road in their DS 7 Hybrid, Pelux being the new brand ambassador for DS. What keeps them in Switzerland? «Here nature is preserved, everything is simpler, and the guests are true connoisseurs.» And what might one day make them leave? Starting a family — a shared wish. «With our two jobs, we’d have to live above the restaurant to see our child.» To be continued.
This article appeared in MEN issue 1/21 (November 2021).
