By Pomélo
The rise of celebrity chefs in recent years has brought about a new profession in the food world: the chef’s agent. At 33, Margaux Décatoire is one of the leading French figures in this emerging field, as co-founder of the agency La Relève.
Call My Agent—the English title of the hit French series Dix pour cent—might well become the catchphrase of today’s rising chefs and pastry stars. In December 2024, M Le Monde devoted a feature to the trend, titled “Chef Agents, the Hottest Job in Gastronomy.” Agencies are on the rise, but their business models remain hazy. “I think the ones mentioned in Le Monde don’t actually make a living from it,” Margaux Décatoire says over the phone. That’s not her case, though: in 2021, she launched La Relève with former food journalist Julie Gerbet, and the agency now generates between €1.5 and €1.8 million in annual revenue.
Each day, Décatoire and her three full-time chef agents—internally called “talent managers” within a team of nine—negotiate and support the 18 culinary personalities they represent. In practical terms, that means matching chefs with the right brands for private dinners, ambassador deals, speaking engagements, and more. “To explain what I do, I draw a parallel with the film or music industries—it helps people visualize it. Most people are surprised: ‘Really? That’s a thing? So you place them in restaurants?’ They immediately think ‘restaurant.’”
Margaux has close, often friendly relationships with the talents she represents year-round and speaks with almost daily. Her roster includes pastry chef Quentin Lechat (formerly of the Royal Monceau), chocolatier Jade Genin, Top Chef alumni Sarah Mainguy, Matthias Marc, and Adrien Cachot (all now Michelin-starred), Anglo-American chef Thomas Graham (who gained attention at Le Mermoz in Paris), and food influencer Camille Chamignon, with roughly 400,000 Instagram followers. Talents are divided into three tiers, mainly based on their social media reach. A “top-tier” talent brings in at least €70,000 to €90,000 in partnerships annually; for an entry-level talent, the range is €10,000 to €20,000.
La Relève also works directly with brands—managing one-off collaborations (sometimes with budgets as high as €400,000) and long-term partnerships, such as with tea house Dammann Frères. Again, it’s about matching the right face to the right project. For instance, Jameson tapped Top Chef season 15 fan favorite Valentin Raffali (of Livingston, Marseille); Eurostar handed over its luxury-class menus to a chef–pastry chef–sommelier trio; and in Cannes, Nespresso partnered with media-savvy entrepreneurs Céline Chung (Bao Family) and Moïse Sfez (Homer Food).
Before finding her calling, Margaux worked on the food ad team at online media outlet Démotivateur. She didn’t grow up in the hospitality world but is no stranger to it: side jobs as a waitress and bartender, a father who once ran Le Séoul, a Korean restaurant that served François Mitterrand, and a grandmother who ran a Michelin-starred hotel near Namur, Belgium. “In 2017, we were only just beginning to see today’s food hype. Chefs were just starting to be endorsed in ads. I remember we did a campaign with Lavazza and chef Denny Imbroisi.”
Early brand-chef partnerships date back to the 1970s and ’80s, but back then it was legends like Michel Guérard (with Nestlé) or Joël Robuchon (with Fleury Michon)—generals of French haute cuisine and triple Michelin stars.
Sensing a shift, Décatoire took a leap and cold-messaged Top Chef 2019 contestant Alexia Duchêne on Instagram. “At first, I didn’t think of myself as an agent—I just wanted to know if someone was helping her with negotiations and event production.” It paid off: they clicked. “I learned the job with her. She would often put me forward. She made me an agent, in a way.” Their first big win: a collaboration with British clothing brand Barbour. “Back then, there were very few of us. I only knew of Hélène Luzin, a longtime industry veteran, and Laurence Mentil, who said in an interview that she started out as Cyril Lignac’s agent before launching the brand with him.” She adds, “It’s a passion job—you have to love supporting people and be okay with getting calls on the weekend.”
La Relève works on commission but doesn’t offer guaranteed annual earnings to its talents—only a commitment of effort. Décatoire is clear-eyed about today’s tough economic climate: “The first few months of 2025 have been rough for everyone. You have to fight for every cent.” She also regrets that many so-called chef agents—she estimates there are 20 to 30 in France—undercut each other on pricing when responding to brand tenders. Still, she isn’t afraid to turn down big-money deals when they don’t align with her talents’ values.
One example: a fast-food chain once offered nearly €100,000 to partner with Alexia Duchêne, who ultimately declined. It didn’t reflect her values—and with her Canal+ series focusing on small-scale producers, the backlash would’ve been swift. “It just wouldn’t have made sense.”
When asked whom she’d love to work with, Décatoire instantly names Glenn Viel—“I love his personality”—and the tableware house Christofle: “It’s a fabulous world and a French brand with a boutique-like feel and true craftsmanship. The kind of client we love to support—still small enough to be agile.”
