Taku Sekine, one of the most prominent chefs in Paris, ended his life on September 28, at the age of 39, we learned in a statement released by his family.
Born and trained in Japan, he had worked for Alain Ducasse, Hélène Darroze, Fish, Saturne and the Clown Bar, before opening in 2014, with Amaury Guyot, Dersou, a popular restaurant in the Aligre district, among the first to play food and cocktail pairings.
In 2019, he inaugurated with Florent Ciccoli the Cheval d'Or (19th), a cutting-edge Asian restaurant that was just as successful.
“The conditions of Taku SEKINE's death are neither ordinary nor accidental. Taku SEKINE ended his life, swept away by a serious depression following his public questioning - on social networks and on a specialized site -, with a recurrence akin to real relentlessness. Certain actors, in particular of the press, knowingly, in a few weeks and in the total absence of complaint, ruined the reputation of Taku SEKINE.
»Denounces the press release.
"These ill-intentioned people, flouting any ethics and any rule of respect for the presumption of innocence, spread false gossip on social networks and organized a brutal campaign to destroy Taku SEKINE's network, calling on every actor in the field of gastronomy to spread slander and warning them to work with him.
Of course, they never dared to contact him directly.
Deprived of his right to exercise his talent, Taku SEKINE, who lived for the kitchen, locked himself in the space of two months in a violent spiral of depression.
This attack on his honor and his integrity was profound.
In a depressive process identified and known to doctors, Taku SEKINE lost sight of how he could get out of this surge.
Taku SEKINE has never been prosecuted or been the subject of any complaint.
He did not flee to Japan either, contrary to what the same media had dared to add without even agreeing to modify this manifest lie.
He remained in France, with his family, deeply tested in his Japanese culture, irrigated by values of honor.
"
Questioned this summer on Instagram by a young woman who accused him (without naming him) of sexual assault, the leader had since been the subject of rumors on social networks and his name had been published on a specialized site at the beginning of the month.
Father of a child soon to be three years old, Taku Sekine, twice awarded by the Fooding guide, was also close to many Parisian chefs who pay tribute to him today on social networks by displaying their sadness: Giovanni Passerini, Romain Tischenko, Pierre Touitou, Bruno Verjus ...
