Simone Zanoni (born 25 June 1976) is an Italian chef. He is the chef at the ''George'', one of the three restaurants of the

Four Seasons Hotel George V Four Seasons Hotel George V ( ) is a luxury hotel on avenue George V in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. History The Hotel George V, named for King George V of the United Kingdom, opened in 1928. It was financed, at a cost of $31 million (60 mi ...

, one star at the

Michelin guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of ...

. He was before a chef at the restaurants of

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British chef, restaurateur, television personality and writer. His restaurant group, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has been awarded 17 Michelin stars overall; it currently holds a to ...

, two and three Michelin stars.

Early life and career

Simone Zanoni was born in

Salò Salò (; la, Salodium) is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Brescia in the region of Lombardy (northern Italy) on the banks of Lake Garda, on which it has the longest promenade. The city was the seat of government of the Italian Social ...

and grew in Lombardy in a farm of

Provaglio Val Sabbia Provaglio Val Sabbia (Brescian: ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy. It is located in the Valle Sabbia The Valle Sabbia is the second-largest of the Tre Valli Bresciane (''Three Brescian valleys''), situated in the eastern p ...

, near the

lake Garda Lake Garda ( it, Lago di Garda or ; lmo, label= Eastern Lombard, Lach de Garda; vec, Ƚago de Garda; la, Benacus; grc, Βήνακος) is the largest lake in Italy. It is a popular holiday location in northern Italy, about halfway between ...

. He was initiated early into cooking, where his family made its own

charcuterie Charcuterie ( , also ; ; from french: chair, , flesh, label=none, and french: cuit, , cooked, label=none) is a French term for a branch of cooking devoted to prepared meat products, such as bacon, ham, sausage, terrines, '' galantines'', '' ...

, vegetables and cheeses. During the summer, he visited his grandparents at the mountain, helping his grandfather making cheeses and his grandmother making

tortellini ''Tortellini'' are pasta originally from the Italian region of Emilia (in particular Bologna and Modena). Traditionally they are stuffed with a mix of meat (pork loin, raw prosciutto, mortadella), Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, egg and nutmeg and se ...

. She also learned him a lot technically, especially the cookings. On the advice of his father, he followed cooking studies at the ''Istituto Alberghiero polivalente'' in Idro while working the weekend in a cooking team on the lake Garda. Graduated at the age of 18, he decided to move to

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, 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 dow ...

to learn English. He began working in a

trattoria A ''trattoria'' (plural: ''trattorie'') is an Italian-style eating establishment that is generally much less formal than a '' ristorante'', but more formal than an '' osteria''. A ''trattoria'' rooted in tradition may typically provide no pr ...

called the ''Mediterraneo'', while following classed at

Le Cordon Bleu Le Cordon Bleu (French for " The Blue Ribbon") is an international network of hospitality and culinary schools teaching French '' haute cuisine''. Its educational focuses are hospitality management, culinary arts, and gastronomy. The institut ...

to improve himself.

Career

Thanks to a job offer, Simone Zanoni started working as a cooking assistant in a restaurant of

, the Michelin starred restaurant ''Aubergine'' in London, before becoming

chef de partie A chef de partie, station chef, or line cook is a chef in charge of a particular area of production in a restaurant. In large kitchens, each chef de partie might have several cooks or assistants. In most kitchens, however, the chef de partie is t ...

. In January 2001, he became sous-chef in the restaurants of Ramsay, working in the restaurants ''Amarylis'' (one Michelin star), ''Petrus'' (two Michelin stars) and the ''Claridge's'' (one Michelin star). In 2003, Simone Zanoni briefly returned working in Italy at the restaurant ''Dal Pescatore'' in

Canneto sull'Oglio Canneto is an Italian word referred to a reed bed. It may refer to several places in Italy: Municipalities (''comuni'') * Canneto Pavese, in the Province of Pavia, Lombardy * Canneto sull'Oglio, in the Province of Mantua, Lombardy Civil parishes ...

. In August 2003, after the accidental death of the chef David Dempsey, he became at age 27 the chef of the restaurant ''Gordon Ramsay'' in London, the only restaurant having three Michelin stars in the British capital. In 2007, he moved to

Versailles The Palace of Versailles ( ; french: Château de Versailles ) is a former royal residence built by King Louis XIV located in Versailles, about west of Paris, France. The palace is owned by the French Republic and since 1995 has been managed, ...

where he became the chef of the restaurant ''Gordon Ramsay'' at the Trianon Palace (two Michelin stars). In September 2016, Simone Zanoni became the chef of the ''George'', the Mediterranean restaurant of the

Hotel George V Four Seasons Hotel George V ( ) is a luxury hotel on avenue George V in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. History The Hotel George V, named for King George V of the United Kingdom, opened in 1928. It was financed, at a cost of $31 million (60 mi ...

, opened since October 2015, second table of the restaurant after ''Le Cinq'', three starred table of chef

Christian Le Squer Christian Le Squer (born 30 September 1962) is a French three-star Michelin chef at Restaurant Le Cinq, Paris. Early life and education Le Squer was born in Plouhinec in the department of Finistere in Brittany. He first wanted to become a sa ...

. The hotel then opened a third table named ''L'Orangerie'' with Alain Taudon. In 2017, the ''George'' obtained a first Michelin star. In 2017, Simone Zanoni also created a vegetable garden for the restaurant, at the

Domain of Montreuil The Domain of Montreuil (french: Domaine de Madame Élisabeth) is located in the center of Versailles and encompasses 7.2 hectares of land. Louis XVI bought it in 1783 for his sister Elisabeth of France, known as Madame Élisabeth. History O ...

in the

Yvelines Yvelines () is a department in the western part of the Île-de-France region in Northern France. In 2019, it had a population of 1,448,207. Engaged in the preservation of the environment and for a "reasoned" gastronomy, Simone Zanoni created a bio-virtuous system, the trash of the ''George'' is transformed into composting used to nourish the grounds of the vegetable garden. He was also chef of the

kasher (also or , ) is a set of dietary laws dealing with the foods that Jewish people are permitted to eat and how those foods must be prepared according to Jewish law. Food that may be consumed is deemed kosher ( in English, yi, כּשר), fro ...

restaurant ''Le Rafaël'' in Paris, opened in 2014 and closed since, and opened a pizzeria in Versailles named ''Pizzeria César by Simone Zanoni''.

Other activities

Passionated of cars, Simone Zanoni is an ambassador for Porsche.

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zanoni, Simone 1976 births Living people Italian chefs