Michel Guérard, born on March 27, 1993 in Vétheuil, Val-d'Oise is a renowned French cuisine chef cum author and one of most notable founders of the nouvelle cuisine.
Professional Life of Guérard
Michel Guérard began his culinary career by apprenticing at the renowned Kleber Alix patisserie located at Mantes-La-Jolie. After that, Chef Michel Guérard worked in several restaurants of Paris, most notably at the renowned Maxim’s restaurant and in the year 1958, he was awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France Patisserie; at the same time he was offering his services as pastry chef in the prestigious Hôtel de Crillon. The chef has also worked for famous Le Lido burlesque and cabaret house.
In 1965, Michel Guérard established his own Paris based restaurant and named it Le Pot-au-Feu, for which he earned his first Michelin star in 967 and eventually in 1971, the restaurant was awarded a second Michelin star and went on to become a huge success till the time it was later acquired for road widening purposes. In 1977, the main restaurant owned by Chef Michel Guérard was awarded three stars by the Michelin guide and since then, all the properties owned by the chef in Eugénie became immensely successful, turning the small village into one of the major tourist draws.
Michel Guérard also ventured into vineyard plantation for wine production and bought Château de Bachen along with his wife Christine, in 1983 and produced their first grape harvest in the year 1988.
Achievements of Guérard
Chef Michel Guérard has been awarded with some of most prestigious awards and some of the most notable amongst them include the Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur, Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, Chevalier of the Ordre national du Mérite and Chevalier of the Ordre du Mérite agricole.
Food Inventions by Chef Guérard
Chef Michel Guérard, besides being a nouvelle cuisine chef is also the inventor of minceur cuisine. Cuisine minceur is a mainly a cuisine that focuses on healthy cooking altering the Nouvelle cuisine recipes, a formula cooking style which was mainly created to attract the health-conscious Parisians with lighter meals on their way to Eugénie.
Restaurants owned by Michel Guérard
Currently, Chef Michel Guérard owns three restaurants in partnership with his wife, Christine, with all of them being located in Eugénie-les-Bains. Out of them, the restaurant Les Prés d'Eugénie, which received 3 Michelin stars since 1977, is a part of the main spa hotel in Eugénie and serves gourmande cuisine.
Cookbooks by Chef Guérard
Two of the most popular cookbooks by Michel Guérard are –