Controversy. In Lyon, Martinican chef Marcel Ravin turned away from a dinner with Macron
“Sad evening. Being invited and ending up on a sidewalk eating an andouillette (…) And they explain to me that we are no different. I told you what humiliation is. ”
These are the words of chef Marcel Ravin, on Facebook.
The man, a renowned starred chef, has just been turned away from a prestigious dinner in the presence of Emmanuel Macron, evening in Lyon.
A “humiliation”, in his words, linked to the fact that he is a black man.
Marcel Ravin did have an invitation card in due form when he presented himself at the Rhône prefecture, where an evening was organized by the event company GL Events on the sidelines of the International Catering Fair. (Sirha).
This document, which he produced on social networks, indicates that the President of the Republic, the boss of GL Events Olivier Ginon and Jérôme Bocuse, president of the Bocuse d’Or gastronomic competition, asked him to participate in a free dinner. in honor of the great chefs and pastry chefs.
But he was refused entry to the premises by staff assigned to control guests. “They told me that I was not on the list and their manager did not want to know anything,” says the chief. He said he was “shocked and disappointed”.
His story, widely relayed on social networks, arouses outrage.
“Unacceptable”
“I hope that our profession will come together and that no leader recognized by his peers will ever be left on the doorstep again. I want to believe that the organization of this event apologizes for the lack of consideration “, he added, while the president of the territorial community of Martinique, Serge Letchimy, denounced” an unacceptable act “.
“An unfortunate mistake” for GL Events
Asked Monday evening, GL Events spoke of “an unfortunate error”. “We regret this obviously unintentional incident on our part, there is nothing orientated about it”, declared Luc Dubanchet, director of the Sirha Food brands.
According to him, “a priori”, Marcel Ravin did not appear on the lists because he had not responded to his invitation. Other people were in his case Sunday evening, “for whom we were able to make up for it because we were warned,” he said. “But there, we were not informed, alas.”
He apologized from GL Events to Mr. Ravin.