Top French Chefs featuring Joel Robuchon

In a year that saw America's culinary sweetheart Julia Child go mainstream in the hit film "Julie & Julia," FR2DAY has decided to spotlight some of France's best chefs in a series of profiles over the coming weeks. Awarded the Meilleur Ouvrier de France in cuisine in 1976 and the title "Chef of the Century" by the Gault Millau guide back in 1989, there's no doubt that Joël Robuchon is truly a culinary genius.

His literary oeuvre includes several cookbooks in French, including two that have been translated into English, and has chaired the committee for the current edition of the Larousse Gastronomique, an encyclopedia of food that contains French dishes, cooking techniques and recipes. He operates a dozen restaurants around the world, in Taipei, Hong Kong, Las Vegas, London, Macau, New York City, Paris, Tokyo, and Monaco, which have a total of 25 Michelin Guide stars among them - the most of any chef in the world.

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Since the mid-1980s, when the post-nouvelle era really began, the world-renowned chef has been identified with a relentless perfectionism in the kitchen. His food was seen as an instrumental factor in leading French cuisine away from the excesses of nouvelle cuisine. In particular, his cooking was seen to harken back to a more authentic, even bourgeois French cuisine. He has been long praised for his skill at intensifying the essence of a dish by accentuating two or three flavours rather than creating unusual combinations.

Born in Poitiers, France - south of the Loire Valley - Robuchon knew at the young age of 15 that he wanted to be a chef. He joined the Relais of Poitiers hotel as an apprentice chef, where he learned the skills necessary to craft his gastronomic talent. He was only 28 when he was appointed head chef at the Hôtel Harmoney-Lafayette, which served 3,000 meals a day. It was at this time that he was awarded the title of Meilleur Ouvrier de France. He claimed the prize again three years later for his craftsmanship in Culinary Arts.

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In 1981, he started his own small Paris restaurant called Jamin, which only three years later was awarded three Michelin Guide stars, the highest possible rating. Among his standout dishes in those years was his unique take on mashed potatoes (his famous purée de pommes de terre) and his tossed green salad (salade aux herbes fraîches). In search of a larger kitchen, Robuchon opened a grander restaurant under his own name in the Hôtel du Parc, where he again received three stars.

Claiming to feel stifled creatively he closed the restaurant in 1996 and essentially retired at the top of his game, only 51 years old. But six years later, after testing the waters with a small restaurant in Tokyo, he opened L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon in Paris. Revolutionizing the layout of most traditional restaurants, the new spot featured seats around a counter overlooking the kitchen, eliminating the wall between diner and chef, and essentially creating the contemporary voyeuristic restaurants we see today, where the chef's kitchen is part of a theatrical presentation for the diners.

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Guests flock to the Hotel Metropole in Monte Carlo, Monaco to experience the poolside decadence of its main restaurant, a collaboration between Robuchon and head chef Christophe Cussac. The menu is sophisticated and accessible with a Mediterranean flavour, thanks to the great local produce from the region. Again, the open kitchen concept welcomes the diner into the chef's culinary craft, creating a unique experience where all five senses are tested.