Alain Senderens (, 2 December 1939 – 25 June 2017) was a leading French

chef A chef is a trained professional cook and tradesman who is proficient in all aspects of food preparation, often focusing on a particular cuisine. The word "chef" is derived from the term ''chef de cuisine'' (), the director or head of a k ...

and practitioner of ''

Nouvelle Cuisine ''Nouvelle 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 an increased e ...

''. ''Le Figaro'' credited him as the inventor of food and wine pairings.

Biography

Senderens was born in

Hyères Hyères (), Provençal Occitan: ''Ieras'' in classical norm, or ''Iero'' in Mistralian norm) is a commune in the Var department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. The old town lies from the sea clustered aroun ...

Var Var or VAR may refer to: Places * Var (department), a department of France * Var (river), France * Vār, Iran, village in West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Var, Iran (disambiguation), other places in Iran * Vár, a village in Obreja commune, Ca ...

, France and completed secondary school in

Labatut-Rivière Labatut-Rivière (; oc, L'Abatut) is a commune in the Hautes-Pyrénées department in south-western France. The Church of the Assumption The church was restored in 1846, while the most recent restoration work was carried out in 2007. There is a ...

. Before moving to Paris, he apprenticed at the Ambassador Hotel in

Lourdes Lourdes (, also , ; oc, Lorda ) is a market town situated in the Pyrenees. It is part of the Hautes-Pyrénées department in the Occitanie region in southwestern France. Prior to the mid-19th century, the town was best known for the Châte ...

. In Paris, Senderens worked at well-known restaurants La Tour d'Argent and Lucas Carton, which he would later own. He later became the sous-chef at a Hilton restaurant near

Orly Airport Paris Orly Airport (french: Aéroport de Paris-Orly), commonly referred to as Orly , is one of two international airports serving the French capital, Paris, the other one being Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). It is located partially in Orly ...

. In 1968, Alain Senderens opened L'Archestrate in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. ...

, which he operated until 1985. In 1978, the restaurant earned three

Michelin Michelin (; ; full name: ) is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest tyre manufacturer in the world behind Bridgestone and ...

stars. He was the chef at Lucas Carton from 1985 until 2005, when he acquired ownership of the restaurant and renamed it Senderens. In 2005, he became the first chef to hand back his 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 star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The ac ...

after the restaurant was relaunched. At the time he said he could not charge an affordable price for meals while keeping up the standards Michelin required. As a result, Senderens stated that the customers pay a third of the former prices, return more often, generating profits that were nearly four times of what they were. Despite handing back his three star rating, Senderens was later awarded two stars by Michelin. In 2013, Senderens sold the restaurant, which reverted to its Lucas Carton name. Senderens died at his home in

Corrèze Corrèze (; oc, Corresa) is a department in France, named after the river Corrèze which runs through it. Although its prefecture is Tulle, its most populated city is Brive-la-Gaillarde. Corrèze is located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine regio ...

on 25 June 2017.

Influence

The New York Times called him a founding father of Nouvelle Cuisine and he is recognized as a pioneer of food and wine pairings. He worked with his sommelier Didier Bureau and the wine magazine ''La Revue du vin de France'' “to make the wine happy”. The Connexxion, June 2022, pg 13 Senderens trained a number of notable chefs, including:

Alain Passard Alain Passard (; born 4 August 1956 at La Guerche-de-Bretagne, France) is a French chef and owner of the three michelin star restaurant L'Arpège in Paris. The son of musicians, Passard plays the saxophone. History and mentors Alain Passard ...

, who took over L'Archestrate and renamed it

Arpège Arpège () is a 1927 perfume by Lanvin. It is considered to be one of the world's classic scents. History The fragrance has been referred to as the "fragrance of 1000 flowers" and its official name is a derivation of the musical term '' arpeggio ...

, Alain Solivérès of

Taillevent Guillaume Tirel, known as Taillevent ( French: "wind-cutter" i.e. an idle swaggerer) (born ca. 1310 in Pont-Audemer – 1395), was an important figure in the early history of French cuisine. He was cook to the Court of France at the time of the ...

, Christian Le Squer of

Le Cinq Le Cinq () is a gourmet restaurant in Paris, France, part of the Four Seasons Hotel George V. Le Cinq opened in 2001 to much fanfare and rapidly achieved 1, 2, then 3 Michelin Red Guide stars under the direction of chef Philippe Legendre befor ...

, and Christopher Hache of

Hôtel de Crillon Hôtel de Crillon, A Rosewood Hotel () is a historic luxury hotel in Paris which opened in 1909 in a building dating to 1758. Located at the foot of the Champs-Élysées, the Crillon, along with the Hôtel de la Marine, is one of two identical s ...

References

1939 births 2017 deaths People from Hyères French chefs Officiers of the Légion d'honneur Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants {{France-bio-stub