• Ducasse At The Dorchester Honored With Three Michelin Stars - Elite Traveler Website

  Elite Traveler Website

  Ducasse At The Dorchester Honored With Three Michelin Stars Elite Traveler Website January 23, 2010 - London, England - Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester has just been awarded Three Michelin Stars, denoting exceptional cuisine worth a ... Alain Ducasse's Favorite London RestaurantsTravel Agent all 3 news articles »

• Home cooking has come off the boil in France, says Ducasse - Independent

  Home cooking has come off the boil in France, says Ducasse Independent Alain Ducasse, who has a global restaurant empire, says mothers are no longer passing on their skill with a frying pan to their daughters, ... John Lichfield: Making a meal out of old chestnutsIndependent all 2 news articles »

• Alain Ducasse: London is the restaurant capital of the world - Telegraph.co.uk

  Alain Ducasse: London is the restaurant capital of the world Telegraph.co.uk Alain Ducasse, France's most famous chef, declares London the gastronomic capital of the globe. In the process, he lambasts the Michelin Guide for failing ...

• Alain Ducasse Adds to Star Haul, Tests Food With Wolfgang Puck - Bloomberg

  MedIndia

  Alain Ducasse Adds to Star Haul, Tests Food With Wolfgang Puck Bloomberg 18 (Bloomberg) -- As the clock ticked down to the announcement that Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester had won its third Michelin star, the French culinary ... Sat Bains holds on to Michelin starThis is Nottingham all 4 news articles »

• Britain gets fourth Michelin three-starred restaurant - AFP

  Telegraph.co.uk

  Britain gets fourth Michelin three-starred restaurant AFP LONDON ? Britain got its fourth three-star Michelin restaurant on Friday as French chef Alain Ducasse's restaurant at The Dorchester Hotel earned the rare ... Alain Ducasse and Brett Graham are the big Michelin winners in LondonCatererSearch Michelin Guide 2010 gives three stars to Alain Ducasse at the DorchesterBigHospitality.co.uk Michelin Guide leaks againThe Guardian Independent -The Press Association -Telegraph.co.uk all 104 news articles »

• Alain Ducasse declares London as the gastronomic capital of the world - CatererSearch

  Alain Ducasse declares London as the gastronomic capital of the world CatererSearch French celebrity chef Alain Ducasse has declared London as the gastronomic capital of the world and called on Michelin to give its restaurants more stars. ...

• Michelin star retained - Harrogate Today

  Michelin star retained Harrogate Today ... three-star Michelin restaurant, with chef Alain Ducasse joining Heston Blumenthal, Alain Roux and Gordon Ramsay in boasting the coveted honour. ... and more »

• Strange Sauce: The week in national food news - Westword (blog)

  Strange Sauce: The week in national food news Westword (blog) Chef Daniel Boulud will hit the streets of New York next month in a food truck -- and he'll be bringing the legendary Alain Ducasse with him. ...

• What are London's Best Restaurants? - BusinessWeek

  What are London's Best Restaurants? BusinessWeek Alain Ducasse is tipped to win a third star By Richard Vines (Bloomberg) ? Michelin & Cie. announces its stars for UK restaurants on Jan. ... and more »

• Vegas Uncork'd Presented by Bon Appetit Celebrates the World of Culinary Arts ... - PR Newswire (press release)

  Vegas Uncork'd Presented by Bon Appetit Celebrates the World of Culinary Arts ... PR Newswire (press release) Better by the Bay with Alain Ducasse and Charlie Palmer ? Dine under the stars with a beachside barbecue at Mandalay Bay's 11-acre tropical water ... and more »

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Alain Ducasse

Born	13 September 1956 (1956-09-13) (age 53) Castel-Sarrazin, France
Rating(s) Michelin stars
Current restaurant(s) Plaza Athénée in Paris Jules Verne Restaurant located in the Eiffel Tower Le Louis XVI in Monaco
Previous restaurant(s) Essex House, New York City
Official Website

Alain Ducasse (b. 13 September 1956 on a farm in Castel-Sarrazin in southwestern France) is a Monégasque chef. He formerly held French nationality. He operates a number of restaurants including Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester which holds three stars (the top ranking) in the Michelin Guide.

History

In 1972, when he was sixteen, Ducasse began an apprenticeship at the Pavillon Landais restaurant in Soustons and at the Bordeaux hotel school. After this apprenticeship, he began work at Michel Guérard’s restaurant in Eugénie-les-Bains while also working for Gaston Lenôtre during the summer months. In 1977, Ducasse started working as an assistant at Moulin de Mougins under legendary chef Roger Vergé, creator of Cuisine du Soleil, and learned the Provençal cooking methods for which he was later known.

Ducasse's first position as chef came in 1980 when he took over the kitchens at L’amandier in Eugène Mougin. One year later, he assumed the position of head chef at La Terrasse in the Hôtel Juana in Juan-les-Pins. In 1984, he was awarded two stars in the Michelin Red Guide. In that same year, Ducasse was the only survivor of a Learjet crash that nearly took his life.

Career as chef

In 1987, Ducasse was offered the Chef position at the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo, with management including the hotel's Le Louis XV. After assuring himself that the Hotel's other restaurant operations were operating well, Ducasse gave up management of all but the Le Louis XV restaurant.

In 1988, Ducasse expanded beyond the restaurant industry and opened La Bastide de Moustiers, a twelve-bedroom country inn in Provence and he began attaining financial interests in other Provence hotels. On 12 August 1996, the Alain Ducasse restaurant opened in Le Parc – Sofitel Demeure Hôtels in the XVIe arrondissement (16th district) of Paris, France. The Red Guide awarded the restaurant three stars just eight months after opening.

Ducasse came to the United States and in June 2000 opened the Alain Ducasse restaurant in New York City's Essex House hotel at 160 Central Park South, receiving the Red Guide's three stars in December 2001. That restaurant closed in 2007. In early 2008, Ducasse opened Adour, at the St. Regis Hotel on 16th and K Street in Washington, DC, and has also opened a more casual Bistro Benoit New York, at 60 West 55th Street.¹

Recognition

Ducasse became the first chef to own restaurants carrying three Michelin Stars in three cities. The New York restaurant was dropped from the 2007 Michelin Guide because the restaurant was scheduled to close. Ducasse has become known through his writing and influences.

Other restaurants and operations

The Alain Ducasse Group of restaurants, inns, cooking schools, cookbooks, and consulting activities had revenues of $15.9 million in 2002 and employs approximately 1400 people (in 2006).² Since that time, Ducasse has been expanding his reach. Alain Ducasse has also opened a cooking school for the general public in Paris and another for chefs (ADF), which also works for the European Space Agency to develop astronaut meals to be taken into space.³ Ducasse has also authored numerous books, with the most famous being Alain Ducasse Culinary Encyclopedia.

In 2005, Ducasse opened his first Asian restaurant in Tokyo, Japan. Other Ducasse restaurants include:

• 59 Poincaré (Paris, France)
• Adour (New York, USA)
• Adour (St. Regis, Washington D.C., USA)
• Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester (London)
• Aux Lyonnais (Paris, France)
• Bar & Boeuf (Monaco)
• Be (BoulangEpicerie)
• Beige (Tokyo, Japan)
• Benoit (Paris, France) - bistro
• Benoit (Tokyo, Japan) - bistro
• Benoit (New York, USA) - bistro
• Esprit - bistro
• La Cour Jardin (Paris, France)
• Mix in Las Vegas (Las Vegas, USA)
• La Terrasse du Parc
• Le Rech
• Le Relais du Parc (Paris, France)
• Le Relais Palza (Paris, France)
• Tamaris (Beirut, Lebanon)
• Spoon (Paris, Saint-Tropez, Beirut, Carthago, Gstaadt, Mauritius, Hong-Kong)
• Trattoria Toscana (Castiglione della Pescaia, Italy)
• Alain Ducasse opens new Caribbean project in 2010

Alain Ducasse opened in 2004 a restaurant in a resort near Biarritz, in the French Basque Country. However, after several bombing attacks by Irrintzi, an armed Basque nationalist organization of, which accused him of being a speculator and of "folklorice" the Basque Country, Ducasse decided to leave the Basque Country⁴.

References

1. ^ Fabricant, Florence (2007-09-05). "Here Come the Chefs". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/dining/05inte.html. Retrieved 2008-08-13. 
2. ^ Passariello, Christina (2003-05-19). "Cooking Up a Global Empire, Alain Ducasse finds a way to make haute cuisine profitable". Business Week. http://highered.mcgraw-hill.com/sites/0072512431/student_view0/chapter22/business_week_article.html. Retrieved 2008-08-13. 
3. ^ Ducasse's delicacies for the international space station
4. ^ Bombs force French chef out of Basque area | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited