Almost two years to the day after the disappearance of Paul Bocuse, the legendary restaurant of the "Pope of French gastronomy" will lose a star in the 2020 list of the Michelin Guide. The information, revealed on Wednesday January 15 by the newspaper Le Point, was confirmed by the Bocuse d'Or.

"GL events, the organizing company of the Bocuse d'Or, wishes to give its unwavering support to the Maison Bocuse, which has just seen its third Michelin star withdrawn after 55 years," read the press release published by the organizers of this international cooking competition, launched in 1987 by "Monsieur Paul".

This star withdrawal, confirmed Thursday at FranceInfo by the Michelin Guide, already seemed in the air before the death of the chef at the age of 91, in 2018. Some critics said then that the restaurant Bocuse, also named L 'Auberge du Pont de Collonges, was no longer up to par and guides had classified it in the institution category, failing to note it.

Modernization efforts - "tradition in motion", as defined by the management teams of this institution - will therefore not have been enough.

Kitchen changes and renovations

"The chefs worked and reworked the dishes, they refined them for more than a year, making them evolve while retaining their DNA, their original taste", explained to the Progress Vincent Le Roux, general manager, a few days ago .

Among other changes, the presentation of the whole lobster is more contemporary and the dumpling lighter, accompanied by a champagne sauce.

Major renovations are also nearing completion and the restaurant must reopen after three weeks of closure on January 24, three days before the official release of the new Michelin Guide.

"Monsieur Paul" defined himself as "a follower of traditional cuisine". "I like butter, cream, wine" and not "peas quartered", he said in "Paul Bocuse, Sacred Fire" (Éd. Glénat, 2005).

With the loss of this star, "it is the whole Bocuse d'Or family who expresses their sadness and their renewed respect for the work of Mr. Paul", reacted Olivier Ginon, president of the GL events group, who recalls "l contribution of Paul Bocuse to world cuisine, its cultural and heritage imprint ".

With AFP

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