International
Pierre GAGNAIRE
Chef : 4 restaurants
Pierre Gagnaire is always a shock, a jolt, a blow to the face. It leaves you with whirlwinds, dancing stars, dazzles and, for a while, hallucinations and various kinds of tinnitus.
Like all geniuses, the life of this son of restaurateurs from the Haut-Forez region of France has never been an easy one. As a teenager, he did a summer internship with Bocuse, gained experience in Lyon, spent a few months in North America, working odd jobs, before returning to France to work with his parents at Clos Fleuri, the restaurant on the outskirts of Saint-Étienne.
In 1981, as a young man in his thirties, Pierre Gagnaire finally set up his own business. He didn't leave the region, setting up in the center of Saint-Étienne, on rue Georges-Teissier, where he quickly climbed the ladder, quickly earning an 18/20 for his fascinating contemporary cuisine, as we described it at the time. In 1986, he was awarded his first Cuisinier de l'Année title.
In September 1992, following in the footsteps of his compatriots Michel Bras and Marc Veyrat, he too embarked on an ambitious architectural project that would become the talk of the gastronomic world. He moved into an astonishing Art Deco mansion on rue de la Richelandière, still in Saint-Étienne. The house is magnificent, the luxury omnipresent, the investment colossal.
In 1993, this tightrope walker of genius won his second title of Chef of the Year, with his accomplice Michel Nave already at his side, who will assist him until 2021 and his retirement. The adventure was short-lived, however, as financial realities forced Pierre Gagnaire to close his establishment in 1996 and move to rue Balzac in Paris, where, 25 years later, his star still shines as brightly as it did on the first day.
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