The Legacy of Famed French Chef Michel Guérard

He sparked a culinary revolution with his belief that food could be both healthy and delicious and was hailed by his peers as one of the most talented chefs of the 20th century. This August, at 91, Michel Guérard, who had held three Michelin stars since 1977, died at home. The inventor of nouvelle cuisine and cuisine minceur – lean cuisine – Guérard wowed the culinary world by making dishes and sauces healthier in terms of fat, sugar and salt content without losing any of the taste.

Born in 1933 in Vétheuil (Val d’Oise), his parents ran a butcher’s shop and, inspired by watching his grandmother make pastry, the young Guérard took on an apprenticeship at a pâtisserie. By 25, while pastry chef at Paris’ Hôtel de Crillon, he was made a Meilleur Ouvrier de France and in 1965, he bought the Pot au Feu bistro in Asnières-sur-Seine, where he won two stars. It was here in the late 1960s that, according to the New York Times, he “almost single-handedly” invented nouvelle cuisine. Guérard then opened Les Prés d’Eugénie, in Eugénie-les-Bains, which in 1977 brought him three Michelin stars, which he held on to for the rest of his life.

From France Today Magazine