The Man Behind Your Burgers
Justine Mariane Joseph, born into a Catholic family in Colombo, Sri Lanka’s capital city, is the man behind your burgers. Rarely seen and hardly heard, Justine Mariane Joseph is the head chef and basically the only chef of AUP’s Amex Café. From Monday to Friday the kitchen is his domain, with its array of fried finger foods and daily specials that Justine Mariane Joseph plans out each week. He spends five days a week feeding the AUP’s student body; hardly anyone knows his name, let alone his story.
“It was an Indian fried rice, that’s what my mother always made me.”
It hasn't been a straight line to this point in Justine Mariane Joseph’s life. He says it outright: he never envisioned being a cook, especially not at an American university in Paris. The reality is that his culinary career started as a necessary means of income. His introduction into the culinary industry was working for a certain institution of cheese and crust that is all too familiar to an American: Pizza Hut. That is, a Pizza Hut in Sri Lanka. From there, he moved from one establishment to another. He even worked as a cook in Qatar before returning to Sri Lanka to start a data processing company with a close friend. According to him, those aspirations didn't work out and he found himself, once more, looking for work.
Grilling one of the Amex's tasty cheeseburgers. Image Credit: Joachim Fernandez
"A real chef takes the dishes he's learned, that he's eaten, and he makes it his own."
During this time, Justine Mariane Joseph’s sister had married and was living in France. Soon enough the invitation was made. “Why don’t you come to France?” she asked him. Sure enough, he did. Once he arrived, similarly to his culinary beginnings, Justine Mariane Joseph found himself working at a pizzeria in Paris, Andiamo Pizza. Fast-forward four years, having worked with a variety of different cuisines, from Italian to French and more, Justine started settling into the life of a chef. With that comfort came a certainty, this was the profession in which his aspirations would be set. He says it himself, "I love cooking, I love working in a restaurant. This is all a learning process until one day, I have my own style of cooking." The path to his own style brought him to a Restaurant called Doppio, where he would be working for two individuals with some history at AUP: Ibrahim Aarab and David Biais.
Curry with rice and potato wedges. Image Credit: Joachim Fernandez
To any AUP student enrolled before Fall 2018, Ibrahim and David are familiar faces, having been the previous managers of the Amex Café. Doppio, their Italian restaurant in the 18th arrondissement, is exactly where Justine made his first connection to AUP. In the Amex’s managerial transition, which took place the summer of 2018, a new head chef was needed. The offer was given to Justine Mariane Joseph. Unexpected but welcomed, this would be his opportunity for creative license.
"I love cooking, I love working in a restaurant. This is all a learning process until one day, I have my own style of cooking."
Reflective of the school's student body, the Amex has always had a diverse selection of cuisines, represented through its specials. Now, all the culinary and cultural experience behind Justine comes alive in those specials. Together with Antonin, the new Amex owner, those specials are planned out every week. There will be anything from a Tuna Tataki, to dishes with a more personal touch, "the special, it was an Indian style fried rice that my mother always made me." For him, the best food is made with care and creativity, that exactly how Justine explains it. "A real chef takes the dishes he's learned, that he's eaten, and he makes it his own." It's with the care in his work, the culture behind him, the commitment he has to making delicious and unique food, that shows just how much Justine embodies the very values to which AUP stands for.
