Edouard Laurent Deplus
Executive Chef
Four Seasons Tenure
- Since 2022
- First Four Seasons Assignment: Current
Employment History
- Kudadoo Private Island & Spa, Maldives; Hurawalhi Island Resort, Maldives; The St. Regis Bora Bora Resort, French Polynesia; Maison Nô, Lyon, France; La Dama, Barcelona, Spain; The French Brasserie, Melbourne, Australia; PM 24, Melbourne, Australia; Le Pas Sage, Paris, France; L’Atelier Des Chefs, Paris, France; Brasserie Le Nesle, Paris, France; Hôtel Le Meurice, Paris, France
Education
- The Institut Paul Bocuse, Lyon, France
Birthplace
- Caen, Normandy, France
Languages Spoken
- French, English and Spanish
Growing up in Paris, Edouard Deplus’ deep love for food was rooted in “the effect it had on people, bringing joy and sharing memories.” Then there was the full three-course meal that his mother would prepare every night for the family – despite working full time. Not to mention his grandmother’s prowess in the kitchen - the perfect recipe for a culinary future, n’est-ce pas? Pas assez.
“My parents didn’t want me to be a chef so I pursued a diploma in literature and philosophy instead, then headed to law school,” confesses Chef Edouard. “Two years in, I knew it wasn’t the life for me.”
It was while waiting tables in Paris that the penny dropped. Falling in love with “the family dynamic and spirit of being part of a hospitality team” – and intrigued by the energy on the other side of the kitchen doors – he finally followed his heart to Lyon to study culinary arts at the elite Paul Bocuse Institute.
Subsequent fine-dining kitchen roles followed in Paris, before he decamped to Melbourne’s “incredible food and cocktail scene” and the mentorship of Philippe Mouchel – described as Australia’s favourite French chef – who helped him “relearn” French cuisine. But it was the move from restaurants to hotels that gave Chef Edouard the humility he needed to be a leader, first in French Polynesia, then in the Maldives.
“When you work in a restaurant your focus is on the dining room and the kitchen; in a hotel, you have to try and see the big picture and focus on the whole experience, not just what is happening on the plate,” he explains. “It’s a much more humbling experience.”
Just five years after entering the hotel industry, he’s incredibly proud to have secured a coveted executive chef role with Four Seasons. With many individuals and departments to build trust with, showcase, and support – coupled with “the gymnastics of different outlets” – it’s an intense role. But he approaches every day as an opportunity for two-way learning, connection and elevation: not just of the dishes he oversees but of the people who play a part in creating them. “I can have 29 different management styles for 29 different staff,” he explains. “If you can connect with each individual in your team, and drive them to be inspired by the passion of doing the most amazing job they can, there’s never any need to put any pressure on anyone.”
Just as the idea of familial connection and support is key to Chef Edouard’s success inside the kitchen, so too is it central to his downtime too. A dedicated brother and uncle, he loves nothing more than meeting up with his six siblings and their families back in France. While the 40-strong group may now be too big for him to cook for – “like a banquet operation every time” – he continues a custom instigated by his grandfather: collecting fine wines and continuing to “make memories and continue traditions” through the ritual of selecting and sharing a bottle with family members.
And there’s one other ritual he swears by too: “My grandmother cannot travel anymore so everywhere I go I try to add one of her recipes onto the menu so she can be there with me.”
In the kitchen, around the table, via his Instagram account @edeplus and across the oceans: to Chef Edouard, nothing brings people together like food.
