Legendary French restarateur Jean-Claude Vrinat has died at the age of 71. Vrinat owned Paris’ Taillevent restaurant, which deeply influenced notable Philly instutions like Le Bec-Fin and the late Deux Chaminees.
From his obit in the New York Times:
Mr. Vrinat was a frequent diner at his competitors’ restaurants in Paris and the French countryside, and he was frank about complimenting them on things he thought they were doing better than he was. He found time, now and then, to visit the United States. He celebrated Taillevent’s 60th anniversary two years ago with a gala dinner in his own restaurant, then followed it with a dinner at Gramercy Tavern in New York, prepared by Taillevent’s chefs. On other occasions, Mr. Vrinat and his brigade of chefs did dinners in New York at the Tavern on the Green and at the Four Seasons restaurant. […] When the restaurant celebrated its 60th anniversary, he observed that in its long history, Taillevent had employed only six head chefs. The current master of the Taillevent kitchens is Alain Solivérès, who follows in the conservative tradition of the famous Taillevent chefs Claude Deligne and Philippe Legendre.
Jean-Claude Vrinat, Owner of Famed Paris Restaurant, Is Dead at 71 [New York Times]
[Image via New York Times]
