Invitation to a prestigious dinner in the presence of Emmanuel Macron this Sunday evening in Lyon, the chef of Martinican origin Marcel Ravin was finally turned away.

According to him, this is discrimination, a regrettable error according to the organizer.

This Michelin-starred chef from a restaurant in Monaco had a formal invitation card when he presented himself at the Rhône prefecture, where an evening organized by the event company GL Events was taking place.
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 cBocuse d’Or gastronomic course, asked him to participate in a dinner offered in honor of great chefs and pastry chefs.

But he was refused entry. It was the staff assigned to control the guests who were in charge of turning him back.

“They told me that I was not on the list and their manager didn’t want to know anything”, says Ravin.

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

he wrote on Facebook and Instagram.

“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 believe that the organization of this event apologizes for the lack of consideration” , he added, while the president of the territorial collectivity of Martinique, Serge Letchimy, denounced
“an unacceptable act”.

pic.twitter.com/DYqBwXHYWI

– Serge LETCHIMY (@SergeLetchimy) September 27, 2021

“An unfortunate mistake”

Asked by AFP on 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”, Mr. Ravin was not on the lists because he had not responded to his invitation. Other people were like him on Sunday night, “for which we were able to make up for it because we were warned”, he said.
“But there, we were not informed, alas”, Mr. Dubanchet added, apologizing from GL Events to Mr. Ravin.

Second incident

This Monday, September 27, the Sirha also experienced another incident. A man threw an egg at Emmanuel Macron in the aisles of the international fair. The projectile bounced off his shoulder without breaking, a brief incident amid the rather warm welcome from the professionals.

with AFP