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Auguste Escoffier was born in Villeneuve - Loubet, a small Provencal village near Nice, on October 28, 1846. He died in Monte Carlo on February 12, 1935, at the age of 89. During his entire life he had a prestigious career, first as a chef, then as Director of the restaurants of eminent hotels, as a writer and simply as a “very noble man,” in the 18th century sense of the world.
The Chef of Kings and the King of Chefs
Auguste Escoffier’s cookery career began at 13 when he worked as a kitchen apprentice at his uncle's restaurant in Nice. He learned not only how to cook but also all the other services, including buying for the restaurant and serving at table. In 1865, he left Nice and went to Paris, there he worked in various departments of the kitchens in the famous Parisian Restaurant Le Petit Moulin Rouge. After the war, he returned and served as chef de cuisine from 1873 to 1878. |
At this prestigious restaurant, he met and catered to many famous personalities of the time, including Sarah Bernhardt, Juliette Adam, and Gustave Doré. In August of 1878, he married Delphine Daffis, the daughter of a prominent editor.
Until 1884, Escoffier had established his reputation both as cook and as writer in the culinary world, in the same year he joined the Grand Hotel in Monte-Carlo as Chef de cuisine, at the invitation of César Ritz, the manager, and Mrs. Jungbluth, the owner. This is the beginning of a longstanding and mutually fruitful collaboration between the two men that would lead to an era of luxury hotels. More>> |
