Hearing from our students several years after graduation is always a great pleasure. Not only because we like to keep good relations and communication flowing with our students but because most of the time our alumni write to us with stories of amazing career achievements. This is the case of Chloé Catoni, Vatel USA MBA graduate of 2015.

French native, Chloe is now living in XUZHOU, Jiangsu China with her fiancé, Maxime Mercier Graduated from Vatel Lyon in 2013. Together they recently opened a western restaurant where they offer Western/French traditional meals such as Boeuf Bourguignon, Ratatouille, Choucroute and some snacking such as  pasta, panini and more. Chloé and Maxime created this restaurant inside Creascenders incubator in order to test their western concept on Chinese customers. A convenient and efficient way to start a business in China.

The main project is still under construction, located in downtown Xuzhou, it will be the first Xuzhou international community restaurant gathering locals and expatriates, professionals and individuals. The project is named CRE Café Restaurant and Events and will include, as you can guess a café, a French restaurant, a banquets and events area where local artists’ masterpiece will be on display. The CRE Café also includes a shop for customers who want to bring back some Western delicatessen or souvenirs and keep the feeling going. Maxime will be in charge of the kitchen and the restaurant. He will also give cooking classes for Chinese for locals. Chloé will be in charge of the Café and manage all the events department.

Chloe says: “Passionate about China, we created this project in order to share the two cultures that we love; French and Chinese, with the art and food lovers’ community that we have built here.“
At 25 years old it is an amazing opportunity for Chloé and Maxime to have the chance to open a restaurant in China. Thanks to their education and management trainings with Vatel they feel confident and able to achieve this ambitious project. It is nevertheless a challenge to work with Chinese people, says Chloé, an excellent opportunity to learn more about cross-cultural management :)

After completing a Bachelor at Vatel Lyon France in 2014, Chloé Catoni enrolled at Vatel Los Angeles for a MBA in Hospitality Management with concentration in American Management and Entrepreneurship. As part of the program she completed a 1 year internship at Sofitel Beverly Hills as assistant of the F&B Director, which was the perfect training for her future plans.
When sending her resume for placement through Vatel in order to find her 12 months paid internship in Los Angeles, under “objectives” Chloé wrote:
“My goal within the next five years is to join a hotel group and to evolve within this structure in order to be transferred abroad and develop new experiences, skills and network. Thereafter, I aim to create my own establishment, combining luxury, art, American management and French values.”

Well done Chloé! you are on the spot with your objectives and living your dream.