Joël Robuchon

Joël Robuchon (French pronunciation: [ʒɔɛl ʁɔbyʃɔ̃], 7 April 1945 – 6 August 2018) was a French chef and restaurateur. He was named "Chef of the Century" by the guide Gault Millau in 1989, and awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France (France's best worker) in cuisine in 1976. He published several cookbooks, two of which have been translated into English, chaired the committee for the Larousse Gastronomique, and hosted culinary television shows in France. He operated more than a dozen restaurants across Bangkok, Bordeaux, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, London, Macau, Madrid, Monaco, Montreal, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore, Taipei, Tokyo, and New York City. His restaurants have been acclaimed, and he held 31 Michelin Guide stars among them by the time of his death in 2018, the most any restaurateur has ever held. He is considered to be one of the greatest chefs of all time.

Biography

Robuchon was born in 1945 in Poitiers, France, one of four children of a bricklayer. He attended the seminary in Châtillon-sur-Sèvre (now Mauléon), Deux-Sèvres, briefly considering a clerical career. However, he discovered his love of cooking while helping the nuns prepare food in the kitchen. In 1960, at the age of 15, he became an apprentice chef at the Relais de Poitiers hotel, starting as a pastry chef. While undergoing his apprenticeship, he won five competitive medals for cooking while under 20. He also went on his first trip to Japan with his mentor, the Michelin-starred chef Jean Delaveyne. He would, like his mentor, be a disciple of Japanese tradition and influence in his cooking throughout his career.