Born in France and raised by a family of entrepreneurs in Luxembourg, Stéphane Jacques followed his passion for aviation and obtained his Airline Transport Pilot License from the Belgium Air Transport Authorities in 1984. He flew 10 years in Europe for Luxair before joining Emirates Airlines. After 23 years of flying experience and traveling the world, his entrepreneurial spirit took over, and along with Pornthep Booncham, he founded Lemongrass Thai Restaurant in 2002. Together, they established what would be one of the most highly acclaimed homegrown brands in the United Arab Emirates. Stéphane further expanded the brand with the set up of Lemongrass Express, a food court version of the casual dining original, in 2004. He then developed with the collaboration of Francorp the brand’s franchise program and opened the first franchised outlet in 2010. With over 10 years of operation, the concept has grown and earned many media recognition and awards, such as the Best Independent South-East Asian Restaurant. Strong of the Lemongrass Thai Restaurant success story, Stéphane further expanded his range of activities with the establishment in 2013 of LivingBrands, a company dedicated to Food & Beverage concept development, operation and franchise; as well as Evolve Advanced Technologies, an IT company addressing SMEs with hospitality and office services within the region.