Bocuse, 'pope of French cuisine', dies at 91

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Bocuse, pope of French cuisine, dies at 91
Paul Bocuse outside his Michelin three-star restaurant L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges in Collonges-au-Mont-d'or, France.

Paris - He was also known as "Monsieur Paul."

By AFP

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Published: Sat 20 Jan 2018, 10:00 PM

Last updated: Sun 21 Jan 2018, 12:21 AM

Paul Bocuse, the master chef who defined French cuisine for nearly half a century and put it on tables around the world, a man who raised the profile of top chefs from invisible kitchen artists to international celebrities, has died at 91, France's interior minister announced on Saturday.
Minister Gerard Collomb tweeted that "Mister Paul was France. Simplicity and generosity. Excellence and art de vivre."
Bocuse's temple to French gastronomy, L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, outside the city of Lyon in southeastern France, has held three stars - without interruption - since 1965 in the Michelin guide, the bible of gastronomes. He also parlayed his business and cooking skills into a globe-spanning gastronomic empire. Bocuse, who underwent a triple heart bypass in 2005, had also been suffering from Parkinson's disease.
Often referred to as the "pope of French cuisine," Bocuse was a tireless pioneer, the first chef to blend the art of cooking with savvy business tactics - branding his cuisine and his image to create an empire of restaurants around the globe.
As early as 1982, Bocuse opened a restaurant in the France Pavilion in Walt Disney World's Epcot Centre in Orlando, Florida, headed by his son Jerome, also a chef. In recent years, Bocuse even dabbled in fast food with two outlets in his home base of Lyon.
"He has been a leader. He took the cook out of the kitchen," said celebrity French chef Alain Ducasse, speaking at a January 2013 gathering to honor Bocuse - then just shy of his 87th birthday. More than 100 chefs from around the world traveled to Lyon for the occasion - one of a string of such honors bestowed on Bocuse in recent years. Bocuse's imposing physical stature and his larger-than-life personality matched his bold dreams and his far-flung accomplishments.
"Monsieur Paul," as he was known, was placed right in the centre of an August 2013 cover of the newsweekly Le Point that exemplified "The French Genius." 


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