Louis Outhier () is a
French chef best known for Restaurant L'Oasis, a restaurant he ran in
La Napoule, a village near
Cannes
Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...
on the
French Riviera
The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...
, from 1954 to 1988.
Career
Outhier trained under
Fernand Point at
La Pyramide
Restaurant De La Pyramide, popularly known as La Pyramide, was a Michelin Guide 3-star restaurant located in Vienne, Isère, France. It was widely regarded as the greatest restaurant in France while its owner Fernand Point (1897–1955) was aliv ...
, at the same time as
Jean Troisgros and
Paul Bocuse
Paul François Pierre Bocuse (; 11 February 1926 – 20 January 2018) was a French chef based in Lyon known for the quality of his restaurants and his innovative approaches to cuisine. Dubbed "the pope of gastronomy", he was affectionately nick ...
.
He is one of the few chefs in history to simultaneously earn three
Michelin stars
The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few restaurants in certain geographic ...
(from 1969 to 1988) and four "toques" in the
Gault Millau
Gault et Millau () is a French restaurant guide. It was founded by two restaurant critics, Henri Gault and Christian Millau in 1965.
Points system
Gault Millau rates restaurants on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest. Restaurants given ...
guide.
Working with then
Protégé
Mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person. In an organizational setting, a mentor influences the perso ...
, he oversaw a number of restaurant openings throughout the world during the 1980s (including London, Singapore,
Bangkok
Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...
, and
Osaka
is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...
) as a consulting executive chef. In America he oversaw Le Marquis de Lafayette in Boston for its owners,
Swissotel, directing (along with
chef de cuisine
A chef de cuisine (, French for ''head of kitchen'') or head chef is a chef that leads a kitchen and its cooks. A chef patron (feminine form ''chef patronne'') (French for ''boss chef'') or executive chef is a chef that manages multiple kitche ...
Vongerichten) and Stephane Chousineau, Alain DiTomaso, Laurent Poulain 'Diarmuid O'Callaghan,
Ken Oringer the menu, staffing, and sourcing of ingredients.
He is credited with introducing Asian spices into
Nouvelle Cuisine
Nouvelle cuisine (; 'new cuisine') is an approach to cooking and food presentation in French cuisine. In contrast to ''cuisine classique'', an older form of ''haute cuisine'', nouvelle cuisine is characterized by lighter, more delicate dishes and ...
, and for bringing American
regionalism into American French restaurants through his use of local fresh ingredients.
After Outhier retired his restaurant was vacant for several years. Chef Stephane Raimbault, a former protégé of Outhier,
purchased it in 1999, after which it was awarded two Michelin stars.
Outhier was described, during his career, as thin, passionate, and "dapper". His cuisine attempts to recreate smells and tastes from his childhood, particularly the cooking of his grandmother, who along with his grandfather owned a mill in France.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Outhier, Louis
Living people
Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants
Year of birth missing (living people)