Grit, Flavor, and Fame: the Michelin-starred Lebanese hero Alan Geaam comes home

Nineteen years after landing in Paris, with thirty dollars in his pocket and barely speaking three words of French, painting buildings in the morning and washing dishes at night, chef Alan Geaam had conquered his dream. “This sort of thing only happens in movies, and this dream is now my life. I grew up in Tripoli, in the old city, next to Souk El Attarin and Sahat El Nejmeh. The day you own your own story, the day you believe in yourself, you can do anything. You can reach the sky”, says the only Lebanese Michelin-starred chef at the moment. 

Twenty years ago, the trend was mixing Japanese flavors like yuzu and mizu with French and Italian cuisine. Once he trusted himself enough, he blended Lebanese flavors with French cuisine, which was the turning point in his life. 

After twenty-seven years abroad, it is with heightened emotions that Chef Alan returns to his homeland Lebanon. He has learnt a wealth of information on French gastronomy and is eager to share it with the Lebanese people.

In Lebanon, a country famous for its hospitality, the level of the food is high which poses a challenge. He will head a Lebanese restaurant, a French brasserie bringing the French food culture to Beirut, both in Le Gray hotel, and that is only the beginning.

The Michelin star that propelled him

In May 2017, a man came in ordering the whole signature menu and paying for it. Before taking his leave, he requested to speak with the chef showing him his id. The man was a Michelin inspector. Chef Alan started trembling and asked if everything was ok. The inspector answered that it was very interesting, it was the first time in France that a chef combined French haute cuisine with subtle Lebanese influences. The man left without a word for months till the third of February 2018. Chef Alan gets a call at six pm. The director of Michelin welcomed him to the family sharing the exalting news of him receiving his first Michelin star.

Two other Lebanese chefs had received the honor before him. Australian/Lebanese chef Greg Malouf has passed away in September 2024, and chef Clovis Khoury lost the privilege due to lack in consistency, a key element in maintaining the coveted status.

Every year they pay surprise visits to check the food, the restaurant, and preserve the star or take it away. Chef Alan has maintained a level of excellence in his work and retained his star.

The source of his inspiration and pride

“The most important chef in all my life is my mom. It is with her that my love of food began. I give her three Michelin stars. She cooks with a lot of emotion, sharing a lot of love with her food. Everybody loved my mother, so one day I decided I want to be like her”, chef Alan says to The Beiruter. His mom, sister and brother live in Tripoli, one brother resides in the United States and another in France. The always forgotten middle child cannot go unnoticed nowadays. Poverty and a tough childhood during the civil war forged his resilience.

Married with three kids, he is most proud to be a dad, and that his mom lacks for nothing.

His career began in 1999 when he went to Paris. He learnt how to cook and the French technique from books. He had a target in mind, to become a Michelin-starred chef. He opened his first restaurant in 2007 and learnt the art and philosophy of French cuisine.

In 2017, he opened the Alan Geaam restaurant mixing his Lebanese heritage and the French flavor which he had perfected in eighteen years. It was the first time in Paris the two cultures were blended in gastronomy and people felt the emotion behind it as they savored the distinctive dishes.

As he recounts, the moment he went into the theater to get his Michelin star is one he will remember his whole life. “When I got my first restaurant Nicolas Flamel, there was a lot of emotion around it. But when I went into the theater with all the other chefs, after working hard for eighteen years to get it, oh my God. You’re crying, a lot of emotions, you’re happy, you’re sad, you don’t know how you feel. It was a fantastic moment”, affirmed chef Alan with ardor.

A legacy written in stars and success

He was shy about his story at the start of his career, when that changed and he became proud of his identity, success followed. Currently, he has one hundred employees in his company. 

Chef Alan Geaam is based in Paris, he has two Michelin-starred restaurants Alan Geaam and Nicolas Flamel, Lebanese bistro Qasti, a restaurant in Lausanne Switzerland and a consulting company with projects in Lebanon and Riyadh. Ovun Bistro received the best Lebanese restaurant award in Riyadh from Time Out and won a Michelin plate. He consults in Le K2 Palace in Courchevel as well. He’s an accomplished author with three books under his belt.

Furthermore, he orchestrates dinners all over the world. A few days after this interview he flew to Melbourne for two VIP dinners.

My job is all about pleasure. Meeting the Lebanese diaspora everywhere and having them come up to meet me and take a picture with me, a source of pure delight. Leaving with nothing and coming back a hero, I thank God for that, I’m so blessed.

It is the first time in history that the honorary president of the Bocus D’Or was Lebanese. It is one of the world’s most prestigious chef competitions, often dubbed the “Culinary Olympics” and it was held recently in Riyadh.

Armed with grit and defying the odds

To this day he wakes up early to be at work at 6:00 am. “Everything good that’s happened to me I owe to my parents. My mother gave me generosity and her love of cooking, my dad gave me discipline, waking up early and working hard all day without keeping count nor expecting anything in return”, attests chef Alan with affection. If nothing else, his story gives hope to the younger generations that grit, never giving up, working hard, being passionate, and waiting for your turn will lead to success. Nothing came easy for him; he worked hard for everything. “Don’t be afraid of failures, in fact go after them, because after every failure you come back stronger and learn valuable lessons.”

To keep his feet firmly planted on the ground and to work very hard, that’s his philosophy in life. He has yet to consider himself a success as he believes he is at the start of his career. He is thankful for the opportunity to get his message across to the Lebanese sunken in depression.

You are capable of more if you put your mind to it and are willing to work for it.

In a country still reeling from economic collapse, his return is as symbolic as it is personal. He hopes in the near future young chefs will follow in his footsteps, embrace their story and heritage, then there will be hundreds of Michelin-starred Lebanese chefs with the world at their feet.