Globe-trotting chef known as ‘pope of French cuisine’

PARIS — Paul Bocuse, the master chef who defined French cuisine for more than half a century and put it on tables around the world, a man who raised the profile of top chefs from invisible kitchen artists to international celebrities, died Saturday at 91, French officials announced.

Often referred to as the “pope of French cuisine,” Bocuse was a tireless pioneer, the first chef to blend the art of cooking with savvy business tactics — branding his cuisine and his image to create an empire of restaurants around the globe. His imposing physical stature and his largerthan-life personality matched his bold dreams and his far-flung accomplishments.

Bocuse died in Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, where he was born and had his restaurant, French President Emmanuel Macron said in a statement.

“French gastronomy loses a mythical figure . ... The chefs cry in their kitchens, at the Elysee (presidential palace) and everywhere in France,” Macron said.

Interior Minister Gerard Collomb tweeted, “Mister Paul was France. Simplicity and generosity. Excellence and art de vivre.”

Bocuse, who underwent a triple heart bypass in 2005, had also been suffering from Parkinson’s disease.

Bocuse’s temple to French gastronomy, L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges, outside Lyon in southeastern France, has held three stars since 1965 in the Michelin guide, the bible of gastronomes.

As early as 1982, Bocuse opened a restaurant in the France Pavilion in Walt Disney World’s Epcot Center in Orlando, Fla., headed by his son, Jerome, also a chef. In recent years, Bocuse even dabbled in fast food with two outlets in his home base of Lyon.

“He has been a leader. He took the cook out of the kitchen,” said celebrity French chef Alain Ducasse, speaking at a 2013 gathering to honor Bocuse. More than 100 chefs from around the world traveled to Lyon for the occasion — one of a string of honors bestowed on Bocuse in recent years.

“Monsieur Paul,” as he was known, was placed in the center of a 2013 cover of the newsweekly Le Point that exemplified “The French Genius.” Shown in his trademark pose — arms folded over his crisp white apron, a tall chef’s hat, or toque, atop his head — he was winged by Marie Curie, Louis Pasteur and Coco Chanel, among other French luminaries.

While excelling in the business of cooking, Bocuse never flagged in his devotion to his first love, creating a top-class, quintessentially French meal. He eschewed the fads and experiments that captivated many other top chefs.

In traditional cooking like his, he said, there is no room for guesswork.

“One must be immutable, unattackable, monumental,” he declared.

Bocuse stood guard over the kitchen of his worldfamous restaurant even in retirement, keeping an eye on guests, sometimes greeting them at table.

While Bocuse’s kitchens were meticulously in order, his personal life was on the unorthodox side. He acknowledged in a 2005 biography that he had been quietly sharing his life with three women, each with a pivotal role in his life.

His wife, Raymonde, helps watch over his restaurant.

Despite accolades from the world of gastronomy, Bocuse saw a restaurant’s reservation book as the real measure of any chef ’s talent. “If the restaurant works, if it’s full of clients whatever the cuisine, he (the chef ) is right,” he said.

He is survived by his wife, Raymonde, their daughter Francoise and son Jerome.