Paul Bocuse
When it came to deciding who would receive the inaugural American Express Lifetime Achievement Award, there was only ever one name on the list. Paul Bocuse, more than any other living chef, has come to be seen as an ambassador for French cuisine.
The greatest of all Fernand Point's apprentices, he took over his family's failing Collonges-au-Mont-d'Or restaurant in 1959 and rapidly turned it into a gastronomic Mecca. By 1965 he had joined the Michelin elite, winning a third star, a standard that's been maintained at Restaurant Bocuse for 40 consecutive years. In that time he has trained a small army of accomplished chefs and has inspired countless others.
On this gastronomic foundation he went on to build a small restaurant empire in Lyon, where he has five informal brasserie-style restaurants: Nord, Sud, Est, Ouest and Argenson. He's also been the driving force behind the establishment of the Bocuse d'Or, the bi-annual competition held in Lyon, that he created in 1987 and that, over the years, has grown into the culinary equivalent of the World Cup.
Bocuse, L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges,
40 Quai de la Plage, 69600 Collonges-Au-Mont-D'Or, France. +33 (0)4 72 429090www.bocuse.fr
Click here for full list of Lifetime Achievers
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