There is a particular energy surrounding Danny Khezzar.
At 30, the French chef has already moved through some of the most demanding kitchens in France and Switzerland, reached the final of Top Chef France, taken the helm of Geneva’s Michelin-starred Bayview, and begun building a collection of dining concepts that move comfortably between fine dining, Japanese cuisine, street food and contemporary hospitality.
Yet what makes Khezzar particularly compelling is not simply the speed of his rise. It is the contrast. The chef behind an elegant Michelin-starred restaurant is also a rapper. The fine-dining chef is developing street-food concepts.
The classically trained cook embraces Japanese influences, contemporary techniques and deliberately informal experiences. For Khezzar, gastronomy is not a box. It is a language.
From Rosny-sous-Bois to Geneva
Khezzar’s relationship with professional cooking began unusually early. Born and raised in Rosny-sous-Bois, he grew up with strong connections to the restaurant world through his family. A pivotal moment came when he was just 15, during a family brunch at the Ritz Paris.
Rather than simply admire the kitchen from a distance, Khezzar introduced himself to Michel Roth, one of France’s most respected chefs.
Roth showed him the kitchens. That encounter became the beginning of a professional relationship that would shape Khezzar’s career.
He later trained at the École Hôtelière Jean Drouant in Paris and gained experience in prestigious kitchens before working at Pierre Gagnaire’s Gaya. In 2015, he joined Roth in Geneva, beginning at Bayview and gradually progressing through the brigade—from commis to chef de partie, then to sous-chef.
The Bayview Chapter
Today, Khezzar leads the kitchen at Bayview by Danny Khezzar, overlooking Lake Geneva.
He took over the restaurant’s kitchens on May 1, 2023, following seven years of development under Michel Roth. Bayview has maintained its Michelin star and carries an 18/20 rating from Gault & Millau, while its current recognition includes La Liste’s Talent of the Year 2026 distinction.
The restaurant represents the refined side of Khezzar’s cooking. Seasonality, local produce and French technique remain fundamental, but his approach is not rooted in nostalgia. The Bayview describes his cuisine as a modern interpretation built around seasonal ingredients and local flavours, with products sourced from regional producers.
The Top Chef Effect
For a wider audience, Khezzar became known through Top Chef France in 2023. His journey was anything but conventional.
After an early elimination from the main competition, he continued through the show’s brigade cachée, defeating successive competitors and eventually reaching the final. He ultimately finished runner-up to Hugo Riboulet.
The television exposure changed the scale of his public profile. But it did not create the chef. The technique, discipline and years of apprenticeship had already been built behind closed kitchen doors. What Top Chef did was allow a much larger audience to see what was already there.
And Khezzar proved particularly well suited to the modern media environment. His social platforms have become an extension of his kitchen—part education, part entertainment and part personal window into the life of a chef.
Beyond Fine Dining
Perhaps the most interesting development in Khezzar’s career is what happened after Top Chef. Rather than simply doubling down on fine dining, he began expanding in completely different directions.
In 2025, he became involved with Monsieur Claude, a French bistro in Rueil-Malmaison created with the Bistrots Pas Parisiens group. The restaurant is designed around a more social, contemporary interpretation of French dining
Then came Sheesh, his Japanese-inspired street-food concept in Geneva.
The concept focuses on the sando—the Japanese sandwich—approached with the precision of a Michelin-trained kitchen. Khezzar has also announced plans to bring Sheesh to Paris, with a location in the 2nd arrondissement planned for late September 2026.
Beyond the Star
Michelin stars are often treated as the final destination of a chef’s career. For Danny Khezzar, it looks more like one chapter. The star at Bayview establishes credibility. Top Chef established recognition. His restaurants establish range. His social presence establishes reach.
But the real story is what happens when all four converge.
Khezzar represents a new generation of chef—one comfortable moving between the white-tablecloth dining room and the street-food counter, between classical French technique and Japanese inspiration, between the kitchen and the camera.
He is not abandoning fine dining. He is expanding the definition of it. And perhaps that is the most interesting thing about Danny Khezzar. He isn’t simply cooking within the culinary world. He is building his own.
DANNY KHEZZAR
Chef · Restaurateur · Creator
Based: Geneva, Switzerland
Signature: Contemporary French cuisine with global and Japanese influences
Current portfolio: Bayview by Danny Khezzar · Sheesh · Izakaya · Monsieur Claude
Recognition: Michelin-starred Bayview · 18/20 Gault & Millau · La Liste Talent of the Year 2026
Known for: Top Chef France Season 14 finalist, contemporary gastronomy and culinary entrepreneurship
Danny Khezzar on Instagram