Don’t call it the Institut Paul Bocuse anymore. The Lyon establishment, which trains future chefs of gastronomy, indicated on Thursday that it was changing its name. From now on, it will be renamed Lyfe, namely “Lyon for excellence”.
In front of the press, director Dominique Giraudier justified the English-sounding acronym by the school’s ambition to “become the international benchmark for training of excellence” in the hotel and catering trades.
The leaders assured that this decision was not due to the conflict which opposes them to Jérôme Bocuse, the son of the legendary chef who died in 2018. The latter had attacked the establishment for misuse of his father’s name by the school, in particular within the framework of partnerships with companies or by registering its name in China without having informed it.
The school founded in 1991 by Paul Bocuse and Gérard Pélisson
“We have a letter written by Paul Bocuse to my uncle Gérard Pélisson in which he gave free use of the name Institut Paul Bocuse until 2037, so there is great serenity from this point of view. We are looking ahead, ”cut Gilles Pélisson, the president of the school, without making further comments.
For his part, Jérôme Bocuse said in a brief statement “to take note” of this decision which preceded the legal outcome, while regretting that “nothing was mentioned on the consequences of this choice and its many repercussions”.
Founded in 1991 by Paul Bocuse and the co-founder of the Accor hotel group Gérard Pélisson, this international school of cuisine and hotel and restaurant management has a total of 1,200 students of 74 nationalities.