Michel Guérard, the inventor of Nouvelle Cuisine and Michelin-starred chef, has died at the age of 91 on Monday night. He shaped and changed French Haute Cuisine like few others, especially since the 1970s. He brought light dishes to the table where butter and cream had previously dominated. Born in the Paris suburb of Vétheuil in 1933 as the son of a butcher, his culinary career began in 1950 with an apprenticeship as a pastry chef. Just a few years later, at the age of 25, he was named the best pastry chef in France.

After working in several kitchens in Paris, Michel Guérard opened his own restaurant not far from the city in 1965. He later moved with his wife to Eugénie-les-Bains in the southwest of France. His restaurant there “Les Prés d’Eugénie” has been awarded three stars in the Guide Michelin since 1977. Michel Guérard’s first book “La Grande Cuisine Minceur” is today considered a standard work on Nouvelle Cuisine and has been translated into several languages.