French star chef quits restaurant after ‘troubling’ hazing

The Bayonne public prosecutor’s workplace has opened a preliminary investigation into expenses of sexual assault and violence, prosecutor Jerome Bourrier informed AFP.

Aurelien Largeau, 31, who has denied wrongdoing, has a coveted Michelin star to his identify and ran the restaurant of the celebrated Lodge du Palais in Biarritz, southwestern France till his sudden departure final week.

A spokeswoman for resort homeowners Hyatt informed AFP that the administration had been knowledgeable of a “troubling incident”, footage of which had been shared on-line.

She gave no particulars of what was on the pictures however regional day by day Sud Ouest reported that they confirmed an initiation ritual within the resort kitchen.

A kitchen hand was tied to a chair bare for hours with an apple in his mouth and a carrot in his anus with all of the cooks — generally known as the kitchen brigade — wanting on, together with Largeau.

The footage has since been faraway from the web.

The “humiliating” incident passed off “beneath the authority, and within the presence, of chef Aurelien Largeau”, Sud Ouest mentioned.

Largeau informed the France Bleu Pays Basque radio that he “strongly” denied the allegations that he known as “defamatory and untruthful” and that he was getting ready his defence along with his attorneys.

– ‘Security a precedence’ –

“This incident doesn’t replicate the values that we defend,” the Hyatt spokeswoman mentioned. “We now have undertaken an investigation and brought the suitable choices,” she mentioned.

“The protection, well being and well-being of our colleagues, purchasers and companions are absolute priorities for us.”

The Lodge du Palais is a five-star resort on the seafront in Biarritz, with a mean value per evening of over 400 euros ($445).

Officers at Biarritz metropolis corridor, a principal shareholder within the Socomix firm which owns the resort constructing, had been unavailable for remark.

“We discovered about it from the press,” mentioned Patrick Destizon, an opposition city councillor and one in all Socomix’s administrators.

He mentioned the resort’s administration didn’t point out “this episode” at a board assembly final week.

Hazing is banned beneath French legislation, however experiences say the follow nonetheless happens in French eating places. It’s generally defended as a check of whether or not junior workers can deal with the pressures of the job.

Quite a few cooking professionals have began campaigns in opposition to violence in kitchens lately, together with one known as “Palms off my Kitchen Hand” and one other “Respect your Kitchen”.

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Initially printed as French star chef quits restaurant after ‘troubling’ hazing