Marc Meneau

Meneau was born in Avallon on 16 March 1943.[1]

A native of Burgundy, Meneau never really departed his native region. Gone in 1961 to Strasbourg to join a hotel school, he then came back soon after to take the grocery store of his mother Marguerite located in Saint-Père in the town of Vézelay. With the help of his wife Françoise (daughter of a Burgundian restaurant owner) and to seduce her, as a self-taught cooking chef, he transformed it in a restaurant and started inventing recipes published soon after. He was eager to learn and started looking at books of old cuisine chefs, which gave him the opportunity to become a famous chef specialized in old cuisine.

In 1972, he received his first Michelin star and decided to move his restaurant in a larger place that he named L'Espérance. In 1975, he received his second Michelin star. In 1983, he was elected the best French chef of the year (Meilleur Cuisinier Français de l'Année) and received a third Michelin star and the grade of 19/20 at the Gault et Millau. He planted 16 hectares of vine to give another life to the famous wine Bourgogne-Vézelay (AOC). In 1999 however, he lost his third Michelin star.

In 2003, he created the EntreVignes, a bistro just at the opposite of his restaurant, an idea given by Serge Gainsbourg, a familiar of the area. In 2004, Marc Meneau finally had his third Michelin star back.

In 2007, he had several financial problems and the bankruptcy of his society. After that announcement, the Guide Michelin deleted it from his 2007 edition, thinking that the society of Marc Meneau was about to close. In 2008 however, L'Espérance appeared again in the Guide Michelin with its two stars. In 2010, Marc Meneau planted his own kitchen garden certified bio, in the park of his restaurant L'Espérance.

He died from COVID-19 on 9 December 2020.[1]

• 1983 : Meilleur Cuisinier de l'Année by the guide Gault-Millau (elected)
• 1985 : Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres (named)
• 1987 : Chevalier (Knight) of the National Order of Merit (named)
• 1988 : Meilleur Chef de l'Année by the magazine Le Chef (elected)
• 1993 : Officer (Officier) of the National Order of Merit (named)
• 1998 : Chevalier (Knight) of the Legion of Honour (named)
• 2012 : elected Talent d'Or at the Talents du Luxe et de la Création

These chefs were formed by Marc Meneau

• Ludo Lefebvre
• Kilien Stengel

• 2000 : Vatel by Roland Joffé with Gérard Depardieu as François Vatel : elaboration of the gargantuan buffets of the film
• 2006 : Marie Antoinette by Sofia Coppola : ballet of the buffets

• List of Michelin starred restaurants

• Official site (in French)