Alan Geaam was born into a Lebanese family living in Liberia. They lost everything in the civil war and were forced to return to Beirut, Lebanon, only to ＿＿（16）＿＿ again in more armed conflicts. At the age of 19, he embarked on a nomadic journey to seek a better life. He lived in the US, Italy, and the Czech Republic before he arrived in Paris. ＿＿（17）＿＿ he was unable to speak French, he managed to find work in a variety of restaurant kitchens, starting out as a dishwasher. One night, the cook cut his hand and had to go to hospital. Geaam took over and fed the customers. At the end of the night, all of the customers were delighted. Geaam's ＿＿（18）＿＿ with food was evident in his childhood. He liked to watch cookery shows on television after school rather than cartoons. He started cooking while doing his national service in Lebanon. The colonel of his regiment was so impressed that he 19 him his personal chef. Today Geaam is the chef of his Michelin-starred restaurant, located in the center of Paris. "I thought the Michelin guide was about chefs in big fancy hotels or those trained by great masters. But it turned out to be the ＿＿（20）＿＿ ! I can't believe they would be interested in someone like me, who was self-taught and had to sleep in the street at 19," said the 43-year-old Michelin-starred chef.