Auguste Escoffier

Auguste Escoffier (1846-1935), French chef, and master of the haute cuisine style of French cookery originated by Marie Antoine Carême (1784-1833).

George Auguste Escoffier was born on October 28, 1846, in the village of Villeneuve-Loubet. He started his career as a kitchen boy at the age of 12 in Nice. Before beginning his celebrated work in England he spent six years in Paris, served as a cook in the Franco-Prussian War, and master chef at the Grand Hotel in Monte Carlo. From 1890 to 1898 he presided over the kitchens of the Savoy Hotel in London, and in 1898 he began his 13-year tenure at the Carlton House there. At the Carlton House and for brief periods at other great hotels of Europe and New York City, Escoffier perfected the elaborate sauces, many courses, and elegant decorations of Carême's haute cuisine to their modern standards. He trained hundreds of chefs in the grand tradition. Although he retired at the age of 65, he spent some of his time writing. He is credited with the invention of 10,000 recipes. Escoffier died on February 12, 1935, at Monte Carlo.