Jean Yves was born with the kitchen imprinted in his DNA: his father and his grandfather were chefs with their own restaurants in the south of France (Roussillon and Provence). Born in French Algeria and raised on the Haute-Savoie (Annecy), French Alps, Jean Yves feels Brazilian in his soul. He is married “with a beautiful soteropolitana” with whom he had, in Brazil, “two wonderful daughters.”

Chef Jean Yves has been in charge of the restaurant Skylab since early 2008, when he arrived bringing a consistent gastronomic background acquired in his travels around the world. After attending the hotel school, Thonon-Les Bains in 1970, one of the pioneering institutions of gastronomy and most prestigious in France, he became Executive Chef at Hotel Le Meridien in Rio de Janeiro for eight years. This is where Great Chefs originally caught up with Jean Yves and filmed him.

As the Executive Chef of Skylab, he has impressed everyone with his trademark combination of solid technical knowledge of classical French gastronomy, together with large doses of creativity and perfectionism in the preparation and presentation of the dishes. His creations reflect his multicultural profile to use ingredients and trends of the various countries he has visited.

“I like to try new combinations and reinvent the classic dishes of French cuisine, incorporating ingredients from the country where I live. What I define as classical style evolution” says Chef Poirey.