You can find our coffee in these restaurants:

Le George at the Four Seasons Hotel George V (Paris).

When the 18-year-old Simone Zanoni left Lake Garda, his hometown of Salò and his family behind to seek a job and his fortune in London, perhaps he could not have imagined that he would find himself, 20 years later, as the only Italian chef in France boasting two Michelin stars.

This is thanks to his own merit, of course, but thanks also to a certain Gordon Ramsay, who entrusted him with the kitchen of his restaurant at the Trianon Palace in Versailles. Let’s start from the beginning, however. Soon after his arrival in London, and after attending a Cordon Bleu cookery course, Zanoni saw an advertisement for a job at Ramsay’s restaurant Aubergine.

Between 1997 and 2001, he attained the roles first of Commis Chef and then of Chef de Partie at Aubergine. Between 2001 and 2003, Ramsay’s faith in his skills led him to become Vice Chef Tournant for Gordon Ramsay Holdings, moving between three restaurants: Amarylis, Petrus and Claridge’s.

After briefly returning to Italy for a period at the Dal Pescatore restaurant in Canneto sull’Oglio, Zanoni went back to London once more, this time to take up the position of Head Chef in the three-starred flagship Restaurant Gordon Ramsay from 2004 to 2007. One year later, the Scottish chef offered him a new adventure, entrusting him with the role of Executive Chef at his restaurant at the luxurious Hotel Waldorf Astoria at the Trianon Palace in Versailles, where, in 2009, Simone won two stars in one go.

Along with this experience, which is still ongoing, in February 2014 Zanoni added to his list of successful ventures with the opening of Le Rafael, the first kosher haute cuisine restaurant in Paris. Here, the challenge accepted—and met—by the Italian chef was to offer a gastronomic menu with a high level of quality, while adhering strictly to the dietary requirements of the Jewish faith.