Paul Liebrandt

Chef Paul Liebrandt’s food melds the tradition of classical cuisine with a contemporary, personal approach to ingredients and technique and a uniquely graphic visual style. As a teenager growing up in London, England, Liebrandt cooked for some the world’s most esteemed restaurants and chefs including Marco Pierre White at his Michelin three-star restaurant, Raymond Blanc at Le Manor Aux Quat’ Saisons in Oxford, and Jean-Georges Vongerichten at the London outpost of Vong. He traces his turning point from cook to chef to a life-changing year he spent working under the brilliant Pierre Gagnaire at his eponymous threestar restaurant in Paris, France. Following that experience, Liebrandt moved to New York City in 1999, where he worked briefly for David Bouley, at Bouley Bakery. In 2000, Liebrandt first became a chef in his own right at Atlas restaurant on Central Park South. In November of that year, at the age of 24, he earned the distinction of youngest chef ever awarded three stars by the New York Times: critic William Grimes praised his “daring, distinctive style,” likening him to “a pianist who seems to have found a couple of dozen extra keys.” After leaving Atlas, Liebrandt cooked at Papillon, then for numerous high profile clients including Lord Rothschild and HRH Prince Andrew.He opened his first restaurant Corton in 2008. Corton was awarded two Michelin stars in its angular year and was nominated as Best New Restaurant in the United States by the James Beard Foundation, also winning best new restaurant in the USA by Esquire magazine. In 2013 Liebrandt opened his second restaurant The Elm in Brooklyn, which after six weeks of being open was voted best new restaurant in the USA in Esquire magazine’s industry pantheon, its Best New Restaurants list.