 Few chefs can match the accomplishments of Yannick Cam. Internationally acclaimed, this native of Concarneau, France, has helped reinterpret classical French cooking in America since his arrival nearly 30 years ago. With rave reviews over the years from Gourmet magazine to former French President Giscard d'Estaing, Chef Cam continues to demonstrate his unique culinary vision.
Chef Cam was just 15 years old when he first entered a professional kitchen as an apprentice at a restaurant near his boyhood home. The aspiring young chef spent the next decade cooking in several of the top restaurants and hotels in France, including the five-star Royale Hotel in Deauville and the three-star Michelin restaurant Lasserre in Paris.
In 1973, Chef Cam moved to America, heading straight for the nation's epicurean capital-New York City. For the next four years, he worked at the world-famous Four Seasons restaurant, which led to his opening of Le Coup De Fusil in 1977, one of the country's first contemporary French restaurants. There, Chef Cam built a reputation as a talented and engaging French chef.
In 1978, Chef Cam was offered an opportunity to become Executive Chef at Le Pavillon in Washington, DC. Over the next 12 years, he elevated the restaurant to one of the best restaurants in the Washington area and the United States, earning the Wine Spectator's 1985 Grand Award.
Chef Cam also opened Yannick's in the Radisson Hotel in Alexandria, Virginia. The restaurant and Cam's highly honed skills earned the chef a James Beard nomination as Best Mid-Atlantic Chef in 1993 and 1997. In 1994, Esquire magazine recognized Yannick's as one of the nation's 25 Best New Restaurants, and, in 1995, Washingtonian magazine named Cam as Restaurateur of the Year. He followed with critical and culinary successes at Provence and Coco Loco in Washington, DC.
In 2003, Mike Klein, a former business partner at Le Pavillon, offered Chef Cam the opportunity to create the restaurant of his dreams: a restaurant that would combine the highest-quality service with Chef Cam's signature French cuisine and provide a showcase for his considerable culinary talents. With the opening of Le Paradou, Cam's dream has become a reality. Since its debut, Le Paradou has been recognized by Esquire magazine as one of the nation's 25 Best New Restaurants in 2004. And, most recently, Le Paradou earned the Wine Spectator's 2005 Best of Award of Excellence.
|
