This great French chef earned his 3 stars in the Guide Rouge in 1977, never to be parted again. He died at home at the age of 91. We take a look back at his career and hear from some of Luxembourg’s chefs.
Three stars since 1977
He was described as a tease, always with a smile on his face and never far from his stove. It was in 1974 that the chef moved to Eugénie-les-Bains, a spa town in the Landes region, with his wife Christine (heiress to the Sun spa chain). The Les Près d’Eugénie estate comprises three restaurants, and it was the gourmet cuisine in the Grand Restaurant that earned it its 1st star in 1974, its 2nd in 1975 and finally its 3rd in 1977.
The Michelin Guide has this to say about the restaurant Les Près d’Eugénie:
‘You can see all of Chef Guérard’s heritage on the plate: the naturalist vein, of course, a lightness that never fails, and this ability to marry the most diverse flavours with precision, like the instruments of an orchestra.’
His restaurant celebrated its 50th anniversary in June this year. It was the occasion for a big party surrounded by his daughters and chef friends, including Alain Ducasse and Michel Trois-Gros.
The ‘Grande Cuisine Minceur’ and the cover of The Times
Everyone praises his creativity and avant-gardism, as he put forward the ‘great slimming cuisine’ devised for the spa part of the estate in 1975, which gradually won over chefs from all over the world. So much so that Michel Guérard made the front page of the American magazine ‘Times’ in 1976.
Since 1975, he changed the way of cooking by reducing fat and sugar without loosing sight of the principle of cuisine, being taste and pleasure.
‘An immense chef for the great family of gastronomy, a precursor, a visionary of modern cuisine and a poet of his passion. A man of great kindness and respect for others.’
CYRIL MOLARD
Testimonies from Luxembourg chefs
When contacted, 2-star chef Cyril Molard spoke of ‘an immense chef for the great family of gastronomy, a precursor, a visionary of modern cuisine and a poet of his passion. A man of great kindness and respect for others.’
Following the announcement, 1-star chef René Mathieu spoke of Michel Guérard’s legacy. ‘You will forever remain a legend of French gastronomy. Your talent and your passion for cooking will remain engraved in our memories (…). Your legacy will live on through your work and your influence on world gastronomy’.
As for Julien Lucas (1-star chef at the Villa de Camille et Julien), he remembers ‘a man of incredible kindness and wisdom. He’s probably the only chef to have been awarded the MOF (best French craftsman) in pastry-making and to have been awarded 3 stars in the Michelin Guide. Few people know that he was a great pastry chef before he was a great cook. He was a trailblazer at heart, with his low-fat, but generous cuisine.’
Picture: @Celine Clanet / Les Prés d’Eugénie
