There’s more to French food than baguettes and escargot. The French hotel and restaurant sector made $64.2 billion in sales in 2019.
All throughout the world, French cuisine is known for its high quality and incredible ingredients. Famous French chefs are celebrities amongst food connoisseurs, and for good reason. If you’re looking to get into cooking, you should study a few famous chefs.
Who are the greatest chefs in the history of French cuisine? Who are the best female French chefs in the world? What restaurants did they open, and what kinds of food did they cook?
Answer these questions and you can expand your understanding of French food. Here is your quick guide.
Fernand Point
Ask an expert on French food about famous French chefs in history, and they’ll talk about Fernand Point. Point was born in 1897, and he started cooking at his family’s inn when he was ten years old. He trained in several hotels before opening his first restaurant, La Pyramide, when he was 24.
La Pyramide became one of the greatest restaurants in France, earning three Michelin stars in 1932. Point remained at the restaurant for the rest of his life, training many notable French chefs like Paul Bocuse.
Point died in 1955. In 1969, a cookbook created from his notes was published in France. It became a bestseller, and it remains in print today.
Alain Passard
Alain Passard was born in 1956. He began his career in 1971 and rose through the ranks of French restaurants, eventually receiving two Michelin stars in 1980. He received his third star in 1996, and he has maintained all three.
In 2001, he introduced a vegetarian menu at his restaurant, L’Aprège. He now owns three separate farms, and his restaurant relies on their produce to create different dishes.
Anne-Sophie Pic
Anne-Sophie Pic is the daughter of Jacques Pic, who received three Michelin stars for his restaurant, Maison Pic. Jacques trained Anne-Sophie when she was a child, and she became a chef when she was 23.
She is now the head chef at Maison Pic, but she has opened her own restaurants throughout France. She is the fourth female chef to receive three Michelin stars, and she has received a number of other awards from culinary institutions.
Rougui Dia
Rougui Dia was born in 1976. She learned about cooking through household chores and lessons from her mother, who was a housemaid. Dia then received an internship at a restaurant when she was 15, and she became a chef working at Parisian restaurants when she was 21.
In 2005, she became the head chef at Le Petrossian 144. She was one of the few Black female head chefs in France, and she became famous overnight. She recently moved to Denver to open a restaurant with her sister, but she continues to cook today.
The Most Famous French Chefs
You can learn a lot by studying famous French chefs. Fernand Point introduced a lot of popular dishes and cooking techniques through his restaurant and his cookbook. Alain Passard pioneered French vegetarian dishes and remains an active champion of local farms.
Anne-Sophie Pic does not have any formal training in cooking, yet she has three Michelin stars. Rougui Dia took her mother’s lessons and applied them to the world of fine dining, becoming a head chef before she turned 30.
You can come from any background and become a terrific chef. Read more cooking guides by following our coverage.
