Julien Montbabut

The Path

Ferrandi, Paris gave Julien Montbabut the technical base that would later carry through every kitchen title that followed. The work then moved to Pavillon de la Grande Cascade, where an Executive Sous-Chef post placed him inside service at full speed and sharpened the discipline, timing, and control that this kind of brigade work demands. In 2011, Le Restaurant became the next step, with Montbabut taking on Head Chef responsibilities and moving from support role to kitchen leadership. Since 2018, Maison Albar Hotels - Le Monumental Palace has been one of the main stages for Montbabut’s work, joined by Maison Albar Amoure in 2024 and Jukuseibuta Kawamura. Read together, those appointments show range rather than repetition: different tables, different expectations, same attention to detail. The through-line is a chef formed in exacting kitchens and then carried outward into roles that ask for adaptation as much as authority.

The Work Today

Portugal has become part of the working vocabulary of Julien Montbabut’s cuisine, and he has described that shift plainly: “I try to tell a bit of my story since I arrived here in Portugal: the story of discovering a new country, new producers, new suppliers, new products.” For any chef, that kind of change is operational first: the market changes, the supply chain changes, the menu must answer. What matters in that statement is the method. New producers, suppliers, and products are not treated as decoration; they are the material a kitchen is built from. In Montbabut’s case, the present work reads as a negotiation between training and terrain, with technique holding steady while the pantry recalibrates around place.

Signature

Julien’s signature dishes include jukusei-buta and pork katsu curry. Taken together, they point to a kitchen that works with richness and contrast without losing structure. They also sit naturally within Montbabut’s broader practice: precise enough to carry technique, open enough to register new influences, and grounded enough to read as part of the chef’s ongoing body of work.

In Their Words “ I try to tell a bit of my story since I arrived here in Portugal: the story of discovering a new country, new producers, new suppliers, new products.” “ I came to the Restaurant of the Hotel in May 2011, this time as head of the kitchens.”