André Daguin, the former star chef and charismatic patron of French restaurants in the 2000s, died Tuesday in Auch at the age of 84, we learned from his daughter.
The letters of nobility of duck breast
"He died on Tuesday, peacefully, my mother was at his side, she held his hand.He fought to the end against a cancer of the pancreas," told AFP daughter Ariane Daguin, confirming information from the daily newspaper Sud-Ouest . André Daguin gave his reputation to duck breast. He died at his home in Auch, close to the Hôtel de France where three generations of Daguin succeeded until 1997, when he had given the case to Chief Roland Garreau. When he left the hotel school, he had taken over the family restaurant, where he had received in 1960 a first Michelin star and, ten years later, a second.
President of the National Federation of French Restoration
In 1991, this Gascon, father of three children, became president of the National Federation of the French restoration then, in 1997, of the National Federation of the hotel industry (FNIH). He had finally abandoned the furnaces to become a standard bearer of hotel-restaurants, for a decade. As such, André Daguin led in the 2000s a fight for the reduction of VAT to 5.5% (against 19.6%) in the catering. A measure he had made his battle horse and which had come into force in July 2009.
"The hospitality industry is in mourning, the profession is very very sad to lose a great defender and an ambassador of the restoration, and good products", reacted with AFP the current president of the UMIH ( Union of Trades and Industries of the Hotel Industry), Roland Héguy.
A "figure of Occitania"
A great figure of # Occitanie leaves us.
Through his work and his talent, André #Daguin revolutionized the cuisine of the south-west, giving it an international echo. We had worked hand in hand to set up the label "homemade" .https: //t.co/IVMgAwkIFu
"A great figure of Occitanie leaves us," reacted the president (PS) of the Occitan Region, Carole Delga, on Twitter. "By his work and his talent, André Daguin revolutionized the cuisine of the south-west, giving it an international echo, we had worked hand in hand to set up the 'homemade' label," she added. .
A great leader has left us.
Goodbye André Daguin. Man committed to the defense of the soil, good products and French cuisine.
His last fight, valorization and transmission to the youngest, with his friend Chef Guy Legay, what a good foie gras! pic.twitter.com/ogbbmyd742
"A great chef has left us, a man committed to the defense of the soil, good products and French cuisine", regretted in a tweet the chef of the kitchens of the Elysee, Guillaume Gomez. "He will sorely miss the Gers," said the chairman of the Departmental Council Philippe Martin: "André Daguin has been, throughout his life, the most extraordinary and the most uncompromising defender of our Gascony".