In recent years, news stories concerning scams have multiplied: transfer scams, ticketing scams, funds misappropriated from Social Security funds… Nothing and no one is spared. And after the confidences of Olivier Kretz, who had revealed to have been defrauded in the past with his wife Sandrine of 80,000 eurosit is now the turn of Chef David Gallienne to be the victim of a terrible scam. The Norman, who emerged victorious from season 11 of Top chef broadcast in 2020, even launched a call for help to Julien Courbet and more precisely to his team, during the show It can happen to you. Duplex of its restaurant The feather garden in Giverny, the famous chef recounted the scam of which he was the victim, at the hands of his former sommelier. The latter, for several months in 2020, in fact stole with impunity the bottles of fine wines present in the Chef’s cellar, before reselling them.
Between 15,000 and 20,000 euros in damage for David Gallienne (“Top Chef”)
“We realized one morning, after finding a bottle [d’un grand vin] broken at the foot of the cellar, that something had happened. After viewing the video protection cameras, we realized that our head sommelier had spent the entire night with two accomplices emptying the cellar.explains a disappointed David Gallienne, who subsequently had to compensate for the enormous financial loss represented by the theft of these wines. Asked about the amount of damage by Julien Courbet, the former winner of Top chef answers, in all honesty: “Between 15 and 20,000 euros.” And to specify: “We bought great wines at the time when Steve arrived in the house, someone I trusted. When we call on chef sommeliers of this reputation, because he has worked with major houses, Anne-Sophie Pic, among others, we are not necessarily going to check his work.” And if the scam took so long to be detected, it is because the sommelier had his own technique, perfectly rehearsed and thought out. “He provided us with inventories which were ultimately falsified. He stole the bottles of wine that he made us buy in order to resell them later”, explains the one who has not always been appreciated by Internet users. “It’s a network that has been dismantled, much more important than we think.”
A new restaurant project for David Gallienne
Since then, the alleged crook has been tried by the Evreux judicial court and sentenced to one year in prison for theft and fraud. Problem: neither the person concerned nor his mother, suspected of being an accomplice and also sentenced to six months suspended for the same reasons, were present at their trial. The reason ? They would have fled to Brazil. In his misfortune, the Norman Chef still allowed other people, and other restaurants, to spot the suspect as he explained to Julien Courbet: “I learned last Friday that since last July he had been on French territory, that he was to open a restaurant in Paris. After being a victim, I was able to meet and talk to the next victims on the phone since he is cheating the investors […] to the tune of 4 million euros.” And despite this story, David Gallienne does not let himself be discouraged: he plans to open his second establishment in Giverny on March 29, 2024. “We have our work cut out for us and we are not letting ourselves get discouraged despite these hazards and these bad encounters”he concluded. For his part, Julien Courbet launched a small appeal: “If Steve (the sommelier’s first name, editor’s note) and his mother listen to us, they have priority to speak on this show..