Paul Bocuse

Paul Bocuse was born 11 February 1926 and came up through culinary apprenticeship in Pollionnay under Eugénie Brazier and the legendary Mères of Lyon, after fighting to liberate France. He took over the family restaurant, L'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, and from 1965 it held three Michelin stars for a record 55 years. Bocuse became the face of nouvelle cuisine - lighter, sharper, obsessed with pristine ingredients - a term Henri Gault coined to describe the food he and other top chefs prepared for the Concorde's maiden flight in 1969. But he also turned on the movement's drift toward empty plates and inflated bills. Dubbed "the pope of gastronomy," he inspired the character of Auguste Gusteau in Ratatouille and left behind the Bocuse d'Or, the biennial championship that still bears his name. He died 20 January 2018.