Arnaud Donckele (born 29 March 1977) is a French chef. He currently runs La Vague d'Or restaurant at Cheval Blanc St-Tropez (formerly Résidence de la Pinède) hotel located in Saint-Tropez and "Plénitude" at Cheval Blanc Paris. His St-Tropez restaurant was awarded 3 Michelin stars in 2013, his Parisian restaurant in 2022.
Christophe Michalak (pronounced [kʁi.stɔf mi.ʃa.lak]; born 22 July 1973) is a French Master Pâtissier (pastry chef), author and television presenter.
Benoît Violier (French pronunciation: [bənwa vjɔlje]; 22 August 1971 – 31 January 2016) was a French-Swiss chef .
Violier owned the three Michelin star Restaurant de l'Hôtel de Ville in a suburb of Lausanne, Switzerland from 2012 to his death. The establishment topped the first La Liste in December 2015.
Éric Frechon (born 16 November 1963) is a French chef, Meilleur Ouvrier de France and three stars at the Guide Michelin. He has been described as "chef royalty" and received positive reviews as chef of the restaurant Épicure at the Hôtel Le Bristol in Paris. In 2015 he re-opened the hotel restaurant Céleste which is part of The Lanesborough
René Verdon (June 29, 1924 – February 2, 2011) was a French-born American chef and author. Verdon was the chef for the White House during the administrations of John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. Verdon was hired by First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1961.
Alain Senderens (French pronunciation: [alɛ̃ sɑ̃dʁɛ̃s], 2 December 1939 – 25 June 2017) was a leading French chef and practitioner of Nouvelle Cuisine. Le Figaro credited him as the inventor of food and wine pairings.
Jean-François Piège (born 25 September 1970) is a French chef, two stars at the Guide Michelin.
Jacques Pic (October 31, 1932 – September 19, 1992) was a French chef best known for being head chef at his three Michelin starred restaurant Maison Pic in Valence, Drôme, France. He was the son of chef Andre Pic, and the father of chefs Alain and Anne-Sophie Pic.
Gérald Passedat (born 24 March 1960) is a French chef, owner of the restaurant Le Petit Nice in Marseille. He has three stars at the Guide Michelin since 2008.
Raymond Oliver (27 March 1909 – 5 November 1990) was a French chef and owner of Le Grand Véfour restaurant in Paris, one of France's great historical restaurants. Oliver detested nouvelle cuisine, preferring the rich ingredients favored by the chefs in his native Gascony.Oliver, who was born in Langon in the Bordeaux region of France, was the son and grandson of cooks. His maternal grandmother gave him his first instruction in cooking as a boy, and he began his apprenticeship as a chef under his father at the age of 15.
For more than 35 years, he was the owner of Le Grand Vefour on the Rue de Beaujolais in the Palais-Royal district. His celebrity clientele ranged from statesmen like Winston Churchill and Andre Malraux, to writers including Albert Camus and Georges Simenon, to the industrialists and financiers Henry Ford and David Rockefeller. The Aga Khan, and Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco were among his appreciative clients, as were Jean Cocteau and Colette.
During World War II, Oliver operated a hotel in the French Alps, organized a Resistance cell, and hid Allied airmen who had been shot down on bombing missions. He sheltered an 11-man American bomber crew until the liberation and was later decorated by Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower. In 1948, he purchased Le Grand Vefour, a restaurant dating to 1784. Six years after Oliver bought the restaurant, it was awarded the prized third star by the Michelin Guide (France's atlas to good dining), one of only a handful of kitchens that were so honored at that time.
Oliver published La Cuisine, a detailed technical cookbook, in 1967 and hosted a popular cooking show on television called Art et magie de la cuisine. He also served as one of the eleven judges at the Judgment of Paris.He was mentioned in a 1977 episode of Three's Company when Jack was jealous of Chrissy's date because he met Oliver.