Synopses & Reviews
An unforgettable portrait of Frances legendary chef, and the sophisticated, unforgiving world of French gastronomy Bernard Loiseau was one of only twenty-five French chefs to hold Europes highest culinary award, three stars in the Michelin Red Guide, and only the second chef to be personally awarded the Legion of Honor by a head of state. Despite such triumphs, he shocked the culinary world by taking his own life in February 2003. The GaultMillau guidebook had recently dropped its ratings of Loiseaus restaurant, and rumors swirled that he was on the verge of losing a Michelin star (a prediction that proved to be inaccurate).
Journalist Rudolph Chelminski, who befriended Loiseau three decades ago and followed his rise to the pinnacle of French restaurateurs, now gives us a rare tour of this hallowed culinary realm. The Perfectionist is the story of a daydreaming teenager who worked his way up from complete obscurity to owning three famous restaurants in Paris and rebuilding La Côte dOr, transforming a century-old inn and restaurant that had lost all of its Michelin stars into a luxurious destination restaurant and hotel. He started a line of culinary products with his name on them, appeared regularly on television and in the press, and had a beautiful, intelligent wife and three young children he adoredBernard Loiseau seemed to have it all.
An unvarnished glimpse inside an echelon filled with competition, culture wars, and impossibly high standards, The Perfectionist vividly depicts a man whose energy and enthusiasm won the hearts of staff and clientele, while self-doubt and cut-throat critics took their toll.
Advance Praise for THE PERFECTIONIST
" Chelminski gets right to the heart of what it takes to get--and hold on to--three Michelin stars. The Perfectionist is a knowledgeable, wise, unsparing yet sympathetic portrait of a great chef at a crossroads in culinary history. Few other writers have taken us as deeply--or as unblinkingly--into the real business of haute cuisine. One of the finest and most incisive portraits of a chef ever written--and a sobering account of the real human costs of being the best. A book as strong on "who" cooks as "what" is cooking. Absolutely fascinating from its beginnings--to its tragic end."--Anthony Bourdain, author of the New York Times bestseller Kitchen Confidential
Rudolph Chelminski is an excellent and absorbing writer who obviously understands the inner workings of the culinary world, as well as how chefs think. His empathy for the industry as a whole - and for Bernard Loiseau in particular - makes The Perfectionist a fascinating read. Bernards death is a tragedy that I have struggled with; Mr. Chelminskis book made me finally understand why it occurred.Daniel Boulud, Chef/Owner DANIEL, author of Letters to a Young Chef and Daniel Bouluds Café Boulud Cookbook
"As someone who spent a year with Bernard Loiseau and wrote his own book about the remarkable chef, I read this account with great interest. It is a tour de force - a story of the universal quest for perfection and French gastronomy's battle to continue defining haute cuisine for the rest of the world."--William Echikson, author of Burgundy Stars and Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution
This fascinating account about the top dogs on the French food scene is brilliant in its circumstantial detail. To gain recognition as one of the world's great chefs merely anticipates the unceasing challenge to stay out front as a successful restaurateur. The struggle was too much for the Cote d'Or super star, Bernard Loiseau. The tragedy plays out in Burgundy, France, but Rudy Chelminksi's gripping story serves as a global morality tale about the perils of going for broke in haute cuisine.--Anne Willan, founder Ecole de Cuisine La Varenne
Rudolph Chelminski tells the sad story of Bernard Loiseau movingly and with deep affection. The Perfectionist is a poignant commentary on modern life and the seduction of stardom; at the same time Chelminski lays bare, with penetrating insight, a world of French haute cuisine that the public seldom sees--often nasty, occasionally glorious, and always of compelling interest.Nancy Harmon Jenkins, author of The Essential Mediterranean
Review
"A book as strong on 'who' cooks as "what" is cooking. Absolutely fascinating from its beginnings to its tragic end." Anthony Bourdain, author of the New York Times bestseller Kitchen Confidential
Review
"...a story of the universal quest for perfection and French gastronomy's battle to continue defining haute cuisine..."William Echikson, author of Burgundy Stars and Noble Rot: A Bordeaux Wine Revolution
Review
"Chelminski is an excellent and absorbing writer who obviously understands the inner workings of the culinary world." Daniel Boulud, Chef/Owner DANIEL, Café Boulud and db bistro moderne
Review
"The Perfectionist tells, in rich detail, the story of Loiseau's rapid rise and desperate efforts to stay on top, but this cautionary tale is also a deeply informed guide to the last half century of French cuisine, a brilliant chapter whose ending is uncertain." William Grimes, the New York Times
Synopsis
A riveting behind-the-scenes look at the mysterious world of three-star French haute cuisine is revealed through the biography of one of France's most celebrated chefs Bernard Loiseau, who ended his own life on February 24, 2003, after one of his restaurant's ratings took a disappointing drop.
Synopsis
An unforgettable portrait of Frances legendary chef, and the sophisticated, unforgiving world of French gastronomy
Bernard Loiseau was one of only twenty-five French chefs to hold Europes highest culinary award, three stars in the Michelin Red Guide, and only the second chef to be personally awarded the Legion of Honor by a head of state. Despite such triumphs, he shocked the culinary world by taking his own life in February 2003. The GaultMillau guidebook had recently dropped its ratings of Loiseaus restaurant, and rumors swirled that he was on the verge of losing a Michelin star (a prediction that proved to be inaccurate).
Journalist Rudolph Chelminski, who befriended Loiseau three decades ago and followed his rise to the pinnacle of French restaurateurs, now gives us a rare tour of this hallowed culinary realm. The Perfectionist is the story of a daydreaming teenager who worked his way up from complete obscurity to owning three famous restaurants in Paris and rebuilding La Côte dOr, transforming a century-old inn and restaurant that had lost all of its Michelin stars into a luxurious destination restaurant and hotel. He started a line of culinary products with his name on them, appeared regularly on television and in the press, and had a beautiful, intelligent wife and three young children he adored Bernard Loiseau seemed to have it all.
An unvarnished glimpse inside an echelon filled with competition, culture wars, and impossibly high standards, The Perfectionist vividly depicts a man whose energy and enthusiasm won the hearts of staff and clientele, while self-doubt and cut-throat critics took their toll.
About the Author
Rudolph Chelminski has written articles for dozens of national magazines, ranging from People and Time to The Atlantic Monthly, and his prior books include The French at Table. He holds a degree from Harvard and has studied at the Institut dEtudes Politiques. Raised in Connecticut, he began living in Europe more than thirty years ago, when LIFE magazine dispatched him to Paris.
Table of Contents
Contents I. Luxe, Calme et Volupté 1
II. Clermont-Ferrand 25
III. Le Guide Michelin (and the others) 45
IV. Apprenticeship 73
V. The Great Adventure Begins: Paris with Pygmalion, 19721975 93
VI. Lets Do It: A Rocky Start in Saulieu, 19751976 115
VII. Building le Style Loiseau, 19771982 131
VIII. Bachelor Days in Saulieu, 19771982 147
IX. A Marriage, an Acquisition, and a Breakdown 171
X. Exit Chantal, Enter Dominique 203
XI. The Big Push 227
XII. The Loiseau Decade 253
XIII. Up, Down, and Up Again: Bernards Bipolar World 269
XIV. Things Fall Apart 289
XV. Dénouement 313
XVI. The Third Life of La Côte dOr 331
Index 345