Two decades ago, Alan Geaam found himself in Paris with no money and no place to sleep. Today, he's the head chef of his own new restaurant by the Arc de Triomphe and has received his first Michelin star.
"I never thought the Michelin would be interested in someone like me, who was self-taught, who had to sleep in the street at 19 and who began as a dishwasher," Geaam told AFP.
Geaam, born in Liberia to Lebanese parents, was captivated by food and cooking since an early age.
According to AFP, Geaam would watch cooking shows rather than cartoons after school as a child. Later on, he became the personal chef of his regiment's colonel while performing his national service in Lebanon.
In his Instagram caption, Geaam writes, "It all began 19 years ago with 200 francs in my pocket, as an immigrant in the capital, and with a dream: to become a chef in Paris."
Geaam, who used to work as a construction worker by day, and a pizza delivery guy and a dishwasher by night, was washing dishes in a restaurant when the head chef was rushed to the hospital after slashing his hand with a knife.
"No one asked me, but I just took over. There were 14 tables and so I just feed the customers and at the end of the night they were delighted," he explained.
What does a Michelin star mean?
Going back to the 1900s, one French tire company, Michelin, decided to publish a travel guidebook in an attempt to encourage road-trips in the country and increase sales.
Michelin Guides grew popular fast, reaching other countries too, with professional reviewers trying out and ranking restaurants anonymously.
This old tradition remains to this day, as Michelin takes full pride in guaranteeing the anonymity of the reviewer, who "generally are very passionate about food, have a good eye for detail, and have a great taste memory to recall and compare types of foods."
After multiple reviewers come together, a mutual decision is made as to which restaurants will be awarded the stars, ranging from zero to three.
Restaurant owners and chefs take a lot of pride in receiving even one star because the vast majority of restaurants end up getting none.
Lebanon's Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gebran Bassil, took to Twitter to congratulate Geaam on his accomplishment after visiting his self-titled restaurant.
Through his cooking, Geaam is never too far away from home. He claims pomegranate is a fruit that reminds him of his origins, used in one of his favorite dishes at the moment, "an escalope of foie gras lacquered with pomegranate molasses served with a tartlette of beetroot and pomegranate."
"I ate a lot of pomegranates when I was a kid," Geaam told AFP.
"I made juice with them, I made lots of reductions with them, and I loved putting this very Lebanese touch with something so French as foie gras."
Within hours of receiving his Michelin star, his restaurant was booked three weeks in advance.
"The impossible does not exist. Work hard, never give up, believe in your dreams," he wrote in an Instagram post.