Joël Robuchon – 2009
Joël Robuchon was born on April 7, 1945 in Poitiers. His father was a mason, his mother a housewife.
He entered the seminary at the age of twelve, and was intended for the priesthood. Three years later, however, family difficulties forced him to find work, and as his best moments at the seminary had been spent in the kitchen, he consequently became an apprentice at the Relais de Poitiers for three years, where he learnt the basics of traditional culinary techniques.
In 1966 Robuchon became the official chef of La Tour de France namely “Compagnon du Tour de France”, enabling him to travel throughout the country, learning a variety of diverse regional techniques. As a companion he also became inculcated with the spirit of reaching moral, manual and physical perfection.
Aged 28, Robuchon was named head chef of the new hotel, Harmony-Lafayette, overseeing 3000 meals everyday. Two years later, he received the highest distinction to which a manual worker can aspire to in France “Meilleur Ouvrier de France”.
In 1981 Robuchon set up his own restaurant, Jamin, in Paris. Within three years, he received three Michelin stars and was subsequently elected “Cuisinier du Siècle” (“Chef of the Century”) by the Guide Gault Millau.
In 1996, at the age of 50, Robuchon left the eponymously Parisian restaurant which he had opened two years earlier. Rather than retire, he maintained the direction of his restaurant in Tokyo. He opened L’Atelier Joël Robuchon Tokyo in 2003 followed swiftly by further L’Ateliers in Paris (2003), Las Vegas (2005), New York (2006), London (2006) and Hong Kong (2006). He also established Restaurant Joël Robuchon Monte-Carlo (2004), Restaurant Joël Robuchon Las Vegas (2005), La Table de Joël Robuchon Paris (2004), La Table de Joël Robuchon Tokyo (2004), La Table de Joël Robuchon Nagoya (2007) and a shop La Cave de Joël Robuchon Paris (2007).
With no sign of him taking his foot off the pedal, Robuchon opened his first “pure” Japanese restaurant, Yoshi in Monaco in January this year.