As one of the founders of contemporary French cuisine, Michel Guérard boasts a record-breaking career with 45 years of Three Stars from MICHELIN. He is renowned for his involvement in the Nouvelle Cuisine movement and is remembered as the creator of wellness cuisine and a pioneer of health-conscious fine dining.
Michel Guérard was born in 1933 in Vétheuil, Normandy, into a family of butcher farmers. Until the age of five, he lived with his grandmother and then moved to Rouen with his parents, who owned a shop. As a young child during World War II, he experienced hunger, fear, and fragile health. Fortunately, his grandmother and mother, both skilled cooks, brightened his days. "I had a grandmother who was head over heels in love with her grandson and a divine cook. My mother was excellent as well. I remember the precision and spontaneity of their actions, which were pure grace. As I often say, you couldn't feel the effort. I think I inherited a bit of that spirit." It was through observing the women in his household making puff pastry and decorating shiny fruit tarts that he discovered his vocation as one of the leading figures in contemporary French cuisine. In truth, initially, like Joël Robuchon, he never missed Sunday Mass and even considered taking religious vows.
His apprenticeship followed a classical path and began in pastry. At Mantes, his mentor Kléber Alix passed on the foundations of the profession. He toiled as a dedicated apprentice, acquiring in a few months a wealth of knowledge and skills that would typically take several years. After completing three years of military service, it was time to embark on the customary pilgrimage to Paris. He joined "Le Meurice," where he was informed that the Crillon was in search of a pastry chef. Through a stroke of luck, he was hired. There, he learned the "cuisine de palace" under the guidance of Jean Delaveyne and became a Meilleur Ouvrier de France (Best Craftsman of France) thanks to a delightful almond pithiviers where visual appearance did not overshadow taste and enjoyment.
The next stage of his journey led him to the "Lido," the most beautiful cabaret in the world, where he met Paul Bocuse and Pierre Troisgros. He enhanced the establishment with his pièces montées but, thanks to the foresight of the owners, the Clerico brothers, he began to delve into savory cuisine and became a pastry chef-cook. After six years, it was time for him to venture out on his own. Following his parents' recommendation, he purchased a modest bistro at an auction, located opposite a mechanical factory, and named it "Pot-au-feu" in tribute to his mother's specialty. He started serving sandwiches and glasses of wine to the workers. "I'm screwed," he said to himself. It was Paul Bocuse and Jean Delaveyne, his friends, who shook him and urged him to pursue his dreams. That's when he started visiting the Les Halles market at night, learning to differentiate between male and female lambs. Soon, word began to spread, and Parisian gourmets flocked to the province to taste his homemade foie gras, hot leek pie, ham cooked in truffle coulis, and chocolate marquise. The foie gras pot-au-feu and truffle salad earned him his first Star from MICHELIN in 1967 and the second in 1971. All of Paris was talking about that chef who cooked as melodiously as the birds sang.
But soon, a fateful encounter changed his life. It was his friend Pierre Troisgros who introduced him to a beautiful brunette named Christine Barthélémy, the daughter of the founder of the Biotherm brand and the director of the Soleil thermal spa chain. He confided in her his concern about tending to gain weight, and she invited him to Eugénie-les-Bains, a facility where weight loss was treated. It was a fateful encounter. The chef and the businesswoman ended up getting married. Meanwhile, Gault et Millau, who regularly dined at the "Pot-au-feu," dubbed it "the best suburban bistro in the world," were launching the Nouvelle Cuisine, a revolution that perfectly suited Guérard's creative freshness. It meant short cooking times, seasonal produce, and authentic flavors.
However, he was already aiming for new heights. He had to leave the "Pot-au-feu" due to road expansion works but decided not to seek other walls. "Les Prés d'Eugénie" was on his mind, with Christine. The chef became an apostle of "cuisine minceur," renouncing heavy sauces and buttery béchamel in favor of jus and light cooking techniques. But the focus was on taste: "You can have full and visually pleasing dishes even while losing weight." The meals contained just 500 calories, yet they included dishes like caviar-topped eggs with ratte potatoes cooked in ashes and spice-laden mouillettes. Less butter, less fat, no wine. By 1975, just a year after its opening, the restaurant earned its second Star from MICHELIN, and in 1977, the third star followed. Eugénie-les-Bains had become a gastronomic destination, and the book "La Cuisine Minceur," which codified this shift, became a worldwide success.
And the couple didn't stop there. In 1983, they acquired Château de Bachen and planted new vineyards. They harvested their first grapes there in 1988. Until 2014, they also managed Château d'Ilbarritz, which was transformed into a hotel with a spa. The restaurant count grew to three, including the bistro "La Ferme aux Grives." In 2013, they finally opened the "Institut Michel Guérard," the first national center for teaching healthy cuisine.
For "Les Prés d'Eugénie," the pandemic became an opportunity for renewal. In 2021, Michel, along with his daughters, Eléonore and Adeline, chef Hugo Souchet, and the Brigade d'Eugénie, completely revamped the restaurant's setting, introducing new locations, dishes, and rituals, all orchestrated to take diners on a journey of taste.
