Simone Prunier (1904–1976), known as Madam Prunier, was a French

restaurateur A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspe ...

and food writer who established a well-known French restaurant in London.

Biography

Simone Prunier was born in 1904. Her grandfather, the French restaurateur

Alfred Prunier Alfred Prunier (; 1848 in Yerville, France – 1925) was a French chef and restaurant owner. In 1872 Prunier and his wife Catherine opened a Parisian restaurant on Rue Duphot that bore his name. Today the same restaurant operates under t ...

, had opened La Maison Prunier, the first Prunier fish restaurant, in Paris in 1872. La Maison Prunier became famous for the fresh fish and

shellfish Shellfish, in colloquial and fisheries usage, are exoskeleton-bearing Aquatic animal, aquatic invertebrates used as Human food, food, including various species of Mollusca, molluscs, crustaceans, and echinoderms. Although most kinds of shellfish ...

that was delivered daily by train from the sea, a novelty at the time. When Alfred Prunier died, his son Emile Prunier (Simone Prunier's father) took over the restaurant, expanding and modernizing it. When Emile died in 1925, the then 22-year old Simone Prunier took over the business. In 1934, Prunier and her husband closed the Paris restaurant and opened the Prunier St James's restaurant in London. Many of her wealthy clients had stopped coming to Paris due to war fears. In addition, her English clients had urged her to move to London for years. Prunier St James's quickly gained a reputation for its outstanding fish dishes. Edward Prince of Wales used to walk up to the restaurant from

St James's Palace St James's Palace is the most senior royal palace in London, England. The palace gives its name to the Court of St James's, which is the monarch's royal court, and is located in the City of Westminster. Although no longer the principal residence ...

with

Wallis Simpson Wallis, Duchess of Windsor (born Bessie Wallis Warfield, later Spencer and then Simpson; June 19, 1896 – April 24, 1986) was an American socialite and the wife of Prince Edward, Duke of Windsor (former King Edward VIII). Their intentio ...

for lunch. In 1938, Prunier published her book ''A Classic Way with Fish''.

Rick Stein Christopher Richard Stein, (born 4 January 1947) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur, writer and television presenter. Along with business partner (and first wife) Jill Stein, he runs the Stein hotel and restaurant business in the UK. T ...

credits it as being "a very influential book in my early days of fish cookery" Prunier had a strong reputation for the quality of her fish dishes at Prunier St. James as well as for her hospitality. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the restaurant clientele included some deposed heads of state who had visited the London and Paris restaurants when in power before the war. In 1954, Prunier was made

Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and civil. Currently consisting of five classes, it was o ...

, France's highest honour, in recognition of her services to maintaining the standards and recognition of

French cuisine French cuisine is the cooking traditions and practices of France. In the 14th century, Guillaume Tirel, a Court (royal), court chef known as "Taillevent", wrote ''Le Viandier'', one of the earliest recipe collections of medieval France. In ...

. As her father had said: "It's true it's cost me a lot of work. It's true it's cost me a lot of worry. But what a magnificent business it is, ''quelle belle Maison''." In her retirement, Prunier wrote her biography ''La Maison: The History of Prunier'' published in 1957. The Prunier St James's restaurant closed in 1976. {{Cite web, url=http://www.quadrille.co.uk/author/madame-prunier/180, title=Quadrille Publishing - Madame Prunier Bio, website=www.quadrille.co.uk, access-date=2016-07-11

Selected bibliography

''Madame Prunier's'' ''Fish Cookery Book'', pub. Quadrille (1938) Madame Prunier - ''La Maison: The History of Prunier'', pub. Longsman (1957"

References

1904 births 1976 deaths French restaurateurs French women restaurateurs 20th-century French businesswomen 20th-century French businesspeople 20th-century French women writers French autobiographers