Chef Joël Robuchon
Synonymous with culinary excellence, Joël Robuchon’s status as a master chef can be traced back to his 32 Michelin Stars in more than 20 restaurants. This is the most amount of Michelin stars attained by any chef in history. He was also named as ‘Chef of the century’ by the guide Gault Millau in 1989 and as chef’s legacy’s go, it is without doubt the finest.
In France where he was born, he was awarded ‘Meilleur Ouvrier de France’ in cuisine in 1976, published several cook books, chaired the committee for the Larousse Gastronomique, and hosted many culinary television programmes.
His skills were so coveted that he played a part in training some of the most famous chefs in the world including Gordon Ramsey, Eric Ripert and Michael Caines.
Robuchon was the most influential French chef of the post-nouvelle cuisine era and his influences were vast, covering a wide range of international cuisine and atmospheres, particularly Japanese sushi and simple aesthetics and Spanish sharing plates and liveliness, but he was always respectful of the culture surrounding them, whilst always adding his own French flair. His cooking was often cited as being a celebration of the best and instrumental in leading French cuisine forward from nouvelle cuisine and it’s excessive reductionism. There is no doubt that Robuchon was a master, that was unmatched.