Auguste Escoffier was born in Villeneuve - Loubet, a small provincial village near Nice, on October 28,1846. Hed died in Monte Carlo on February 12, 1935, at the age of 89. Duing 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 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 service, including buying for the restouran and serving at table. In 1865, he left Nice and went to Paris, ther heworked in varous department of the kitchens in the famous Parisian Restourant Le Petit Moulin Rouge. After the war, he returned and served as a chef de cuisine from 1873 to 1878.

At this prestigious restaurant, he met and catered to many famous personalities of the time including Sarah Bernhadt, 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 wrier 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 long standing and mutually fruitful collaboration between the two men that would lead to an era of luxury hotels.

From 1890 to 1920, Escoffier took over the management of the kitchen in many luxurious & prestigious hotels like The Savoy Hotel and The Carlton Hotel in London and Ritz Hotel in Paris. for almost thirty years, he served the most famous people of the world and created his own dishes which became renowned till this time.

After he left London in 1920, Escoffier returned to Monte Carlo and undertook a very active retirement. On March 22,1928, he was awarded the highest French honer of Officier de la Légion d'Honneur at the Palais d'Orsay in Paris, and became the first chef to ever have received this distinction.

Auguste Escofier never ceased writing culinary books until his death in Monte Carlo in 1935. due to the gratitude and unforgettable memory of Auguste Escoffier, people including his best friends and colleagues in London and Paris, created auguste Escoffier Foundation. The culinary art museum was established in his honer in 1959 in the house where Auguste Escoffier was born.

Auguste Escoffier's Great Contributions

Escoffier has a constant concern for the revolutionary changes in the cookery art and people's food habits, and nver ceased to make generous contributions to his gastronomic philosophy of refined simplicity in dining. He eliminated flour from sauce and invented new meat stocks and glazes. he instigated the organization of professional kitchen brigades & divided the staff into different sections of chefs; His talent was also recognized as a writer, his great articles and books have since become classics. Escoffier remains today the first and foremost theoretician of modern cookery.