A chef accused of organising gourmet meals at up to €980 a head in breach of coronavirus restrictions insisted today that he broke no laws.
Christophe Leroy, 57, who describes himself as the King in the Kitchen, is involved in a scandal that is causing embarrassment for President Macron amid rumours that his ministers feasted on champagne, caviar and truffles at illegal dinners during the pandemic.
The controversy erupted with the disclosure that some Parisian chefs cooked for well-heeled diners though restaurants have been closed in France for the past five months.
Leroy, once the personal chef of Johnny Hallyday, the late rocker, is among them. His Leroy’s Business Club has been organising gastronomic events throughout the health crisis, often in Palais Vivienne, an 18th century mansion in Paris owned by Pierre-Jean Chalençon, 51, a leading collector of Napoleonic memorabilia.
The club’s menu features meals priced from €290 to €980 a head in a Napoleonic decor or the sole use of the venue for up to 150 people for 24 hours for €10,000.
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Footage of one of the dinners obtained last weekend by M6, the French television channel, showed guests enjoying champagne, caviar and other delicacies in a gold-leafed salon without social distancing or masks.
The images provoked an outpouring of indignation among viewers in lockdown. The anger was fuelled when an organiser who spoke anonymously brushed aside criticism to insist that he had dined with ministers in clandestine restaurants the previous week. The man was later identified as Chalençon.
He later retracted his claim, saying it was meant to be a joke. But he has sucked Macron’s government into a maelstrom, with Gabriel Attal, its spokesman, and Franck Riester, the trade minister, forced to deny having eaten out after being named on social media as lockdown culprits.
Prosecuters launched an investigation into allegations that the organisers had committed a criminal offence by endangering the lives of guests and waiters.
Police raided Leroy’s home in Paris on Wednesday. They have also raided Palais Vivienne, French media reported.
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Thierry Fradet, his lawyer, said that the chef had provided proof to officers that he had acted legally.
“He handed over a certain number of documents showing that he carried out a service in private homes, as the law allows, and not in establishments receiving the public like a restaurant,” he said.
Fradet said that the chef had suffered “unjustified” criticism but this had not undermined his passion “to satisfy his passion to honour French cuisine”.