Auguste Escoffier

Villeneuve-Loubet, France

Georges Auguste Escoffier, born on 28th October 1847, was a French chef, restaurateur and culinary writer who popularized and updated traditional French cooking methods. He was born in a village and was always interested in cooking so his father took him out of school to start training in the kitchen of his uncle’s restaurant. Escoffier showed such an aptitude for cooking and kitchen management that he was soon hired by the nearby hotel, Bellevue. He was soon offered the position of Apprentice Roast Cook in 1865 at the age of 19. However, only a month after arriving in Paris, he was called to active military duty, where he was given the position of army chef. He spent almost seven years in the army where he learned the techniques of canning food. Soon after in 1878, he soon opened his restaurant in Cannes. Escoffier died less than a week after his wife’s death in 1935 at the age of 88 and was buried in the family vault at Villeneuve-Loubet. He was a legend in the culinary world with tons of famous books to his name such as A Guide To Modern Cookery and 2,000 Favorite French Recipes.