Georges BLANC

Chef : 1 restaurant

Presentation

If today Georges Blanc is one of the world's most famous chefs, it wasn't necessarily what he wanted at the outset. As a young man, he saw himself more in an airplane than in a restaurant kitchen. However, his genes were predestined to make him an exceptional chef. Son and grandson of illustrious cooks, his grandmother Élisa even inherited the nickname "best cook in the world" from Curnonsky.

With a heritage like that, it was hard not to consider cooking as a future career. This he did, finishing top of his class at the École hôtelière de Thonon-les-Bains. But Georges Blanc was stubborn and insisted on doing his internship as a steward with Air France to "discover the world and open hiseyes", he would say before doing his military service... on the Foch and Clemenceau aircraft carriers.

In 1968, he returned home. And above all, the start of serious business. At the time, the establishment was still just an inn offering simple, rich cuisine, where cream and butter were the best friends. Georges Blanc quickly realized that the potential of the place meant he could set his sights higher. He began to offer a more refined, lighter cuisine, and gradually transformed the inn into a luxurious place equipped with all modern amenities. In 1981, he was named Gault&Millau Chef of the Year.

But Georges Blanc is also a shrewd businessman. In 1990, he began to "colonize" his village of Vonnas. His second address, on the Place du Marché, is a tribute to the inn he inherited from his parents and grandparents. The menu? Authentic Bresse and more affordable. But that's nothing compared to the "gourmet village" he's going to create after buying 17 houses (!) around his restaurant. This mini-village, built around the precept of "l'art du bien vivre", comprises hotels, boutiques, a spa, a heliport and parks.

The empire built by Georges Blanc has not distanced him from the Bresse tradition, to the point of becoming - yet another hat - president of the AOC Bresse poultry. If oneday I were to lose my taste and become less good, I'd have to stop."That's still not the case.