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Alain Senderens posing in front of the Lucas-Carton restaurant in 2002.
Alain Senderens posing in front of the Lucas-Carton restaurant in 2002. Photograph: Mehdi Fedouach/AFP/Getty Images
Alain Senderens posing in front of the Lucas-Carton restaurant in 2002. Photograph: Mehdi Fedouach/AFP/Getty Images

Alain Senderens, chef and Nouvelle Cuisine creator, dies aged 77

This article is more than 6 years old

Senderens, along with Paul Bocuse and others, was a stalwart of the French culinary movement in the 1960s and 1970s

Leading French chef Alain Senderens, one of the founders of the Nouvelle Cuisine movement, has died aged 77, food critic Gilles Pudlowski said.

“He was one of the last great creators of Paris. This creator was a visionary,” he said of Senderens, who along with Paul Bocuse, Michel Guerard and others was a stalwart of France’s Nouvelle Cuisine in the 1960s and 1970s. “We will never forget you dear Alain. We miss you already,” Pudlowski wrote on his blog.

Nouvelle Cuisine was characterised by super-sleek aesthetics and lighter, more delicate dishes than traditional, sauce-heavy French fare.

Senderens ranked as one of France’s top chefs for decades, holding on to a prized Michelin three-star rating for 28 years.

But he shocked the country’s culinary establishment by renouncing his stars in 2005 in search of a simpler, less formal approach to dining.

“So I want to open a different restaurant, a great meal without all the fuss,” he said at the time, adding prices would be more affordable at around 100 euros (150 dollars).

Senderens delighted in upsetting the world of French gastronomy by pushing sweet-and-sour combinations such as lobster with vanilla, or by digging up ancient recipes such as roast Apicius duck, a dish dating back to Roman times.

He once caused uproar by proclaiming that white wine should be served with cheese.

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