Troisgros family

Jean-Baptiste and Marie Troisgros

Jean-Baptiste Troisgros (1898-1974) and his wife Marie (1900-1968), of Burgundy origin, hold the Café des Négociants in Chalon-sur-Saône in Burgundy. They have three children : Jean (born December 2, 1926 in Chalon-sur-Saône), Pierre (born 3 September 1928 in Chalon-sur-Saône) and Madeleine (born June 17, 1935 in Roanne). In 1930, the Troisgros family settled in Roanne, on the borders of Burgundy, the Rhone valley and the Auvergne, on the National Highway #7 (route nationale 7), then a major route. They buy the Hôtel-Restaurant des Platanes which stands in front of the train station.

The couple, totally self-taught in restaurants, and their restaurant offered a regional, middle-class, and friendly atmosphere. Marie Troisgros is in the kitchen, Jean-Baptiste takes care of the room and the cellar. Their cuisine is simple, "sincere and true", it is out of question to hide the flavor of quality products by sauces or conceal them under bulky decorations. The great wines of Burgundy, dear to Jean-Baptiste, are honored.

Knowing quickly the notoriety, they renamed their establishment Hôtel Moderne in 1935.

Their two sons, Jean and Pierre, are brought up in the almost sacred eulogies of the great French cuisine. Each at 15, they enter the kitchen almost "as one enters religion". Jean trained in Paris, Pierre at the Hôtel du Golf in Étretat in Normandy; He also works in Saint-Jean-de-Luz in the Basque Country.

After receiving their professional certification (CAP (Certificat d'aptitude professionnelle)), the brothers together at the Lucas Carton, a prestigious restaurant of the place de la Madeleine in the 8th arrondissement of Paris with the great chef Gaston Richard. They formed a lasting friendship there with fellow chef Paul Bocuse.

All three then teamed up in the prestigious restaurant La Pyramide retsaurant in Vienne near Lyon, among the great chefs, Fernand Point, the boss with a strong personality and Paul Mercier. Pierre and Jean made a quick visit to Maxim's for one and to the Hôtel de Crillon for the second, before returning to Roanne : their father, Jean-Baptiste, wanted his two sons to help him And succeed him.

The Troisgros Brothers (Pierre and Jean)

In 1957, the Hôtel Moderne became Les Frères Troisgros, with Pierre working as chef, Jean as master saucier and their father Jean-Baptiste as butler and sommelier with his good sense of human contact.

At the end of the meal, he brings his sons to the room and presents them to the customers. This is the beginning of an ascent to the heights of international gastronomy.

The Michelin Guide awarded them their first star in 1955, the second in 1965 and their very prestigious third star in 1968; 18/20 at the Gault-Millau and 4 stars at the Bottin gourmand.

In 1968, Christian Millau was on the cover of his magazine Gault-Millau: "I discovered the best restaurant in the world."

In the 1980s, in collaboration with the department store Odakyu, Pierre developed the brand of products stamped "Troisgros" in Japan through five shops.

In 1983, Jean Troisgros dies brutally on a tennis court. A few years later, the place of the train station in Roanne is renamed to his name. In the center is a work by the sculptor Arman, Les Gourmandes, which represents a stack of forks. Pierre finds himself alone with Olympe his wife, and asks Michel and Marie-Pierre to return from the United States, to support them a few months in the family business.

Pierre Troigros

Pierre Troisgros and his wife Olympe, of Italian origin, died in 2008, have three children: Claude (born in 1956), Michel (born 1958) and Anne-Marie (born in 1964).

Claude holds the gourmet Olympe restaurant in Rio de Janeiro and three bistros, including one in Miami Beach, Florida. His son Thomas takes over.

Anne-Marie and her husband Yves owned the Restaurant Gravelier in Bordeaux until 2014.

Michel Troisgros

Michel, son of Pierre Troisgros, was born on 2 April 1958 at Roanne. Today he runs the business on his own. He studied at Grenoble from 1974 to 1982, and met his future wife Marie-Pierre there when he was 16 years old. They toured the world to learn the art of cooking from various master chefs: Frédy Girardet in Lausanne, Taillevent in Paris, Michel Guérard in New York and many others in Brussels, San Francisco, London, and Tokyo.

The couple had three children: Marion in 1983, César in 1986 and Léo in 1993.

Michel, born April 2, 1958 in Roanne, son of Pierre and Olympe Troisgros, he studied in the Grenoble Hotel School between 1973 and 1976 where he meets Marie-Pierre, his future wife. They leave to go around the world to learn the craft in big houses like Alain Chapel in Mionnay, Frédy Girardet in Crissier, Taillevent in Paris, Michel Guérard in Eugénie-les-Bains and New York City, Chez Panisse in Berkeley and The Connaught (hotel) in London.

Marie-Pierre Troisgros

Marie-Pierre Lambert, born on April 6, 1957 in Sainte-Colombe, she also studied in the Grenoble Hotel School from 1973 to 1976. During her world tour she worked in various countries, notably in Germany in the Black Forest, At the Hilton Hotel in Brussels, at The Connaught in London, at the Lapérouse restaurant in Paris, at Petrossian in New York, at Michel Guérard in Eugénie-les-Bains and at the François family in Switzerland. Michel and Marie-Pierre married in 1983. Together Marie-Pierre and Michel have three children, Marion (born in 1983), César (born in 1986) and Léo (born in 1993).

César Troisgros

César Troisgros, born on November 5, 1986 in Roanne, is the eldest son of Michel and Marie-Pierre. He trained at the Paul Bocuse Institute in Écully from 2004 to 2007 before continuing his culinary apprenticeship in major houses such as Michel Rostang in Paris, the Roca brothers in Girona in Spain, Thomas Keller in California in the Napa Valley and a few month with his uncle Claude Troisgros in Rio de Janeiro. In 2011, he decides to go to work in Japan, but the disaster of Fukushima makes him postpone his departure. He remains in Roanne to work alongside his father and is involved in family projects, notably in the move to Ouches. His companion Fanny Pralus, works in the family business alongside Marie-Pierre.

Concerned about ecology and biodiversity, the young man cites among his sources of influence the documentary film Demain and the peasant-philosopher Pierre Rabhi. In 2017, he joined Vivre bio in Roannais in the preservation of a bean variety, ''the Auvergne bean''.

Léo Troisgros

Léo Troisgros, born on February 26, 1993 in Roanne, studied at the Paul Bocuse Institute between 2012 and 2015. To complete his training, he joined major companies such as Guy Savoy in Paris, Benoît Violier in Crissier, La Grenouillère by Alexandre Gauthier in La Madelaine-sous-Montreuil and the Hotel Adlon in Berlin. In 2017, he joined the cooking team for the opening of the new establishment in Ouches, before joining La Colline du Colombier, where Lisa Roche, his companion, is head of the ranks.

Restaurants

After the disappearance of Jean, Michel and Marie-Pierre team up with their parents. The father-son tandem lasts 13 years, it extends until 1996. Embellishments are realized during this period, and in particular the realization of a suspended garden and new rooms. At the retirement of Pierre and Olympe, Michel and Marie-Pierre began a collaboration with the architect Christian Liaigre. They review together comfort and elegance from A to Z. In the kitchen, Michel introduces new dishes and dares to free himself from this glorious past. Emblematic dishes that have become too systematic, such as the salmon escalope with sorrel, are removed from the menu. Creative and seasonal dishes take over. Michel's cuisine, inspired by maternal Italy and also by Japan, is becoming more and more traveling. Acidity is also at the heart of its work.

The narrowness of the premises, the impossibility of feeding a future project for their sons César and Léo, both cooks, led Marie-Pierre and Michel to leave the place of the train station of Roanne on January 1, 2017. The new establishment , Le Bois sans feuilles, opens on February 18 in the quiet of an estate located in Ouches, 8 km west of Roanne.

In 1995, Michel and Marie-Pierre opened a "café-restaurant-grocery" opposite the train station in Roanne. The memory of the Italian salmons inspired them in the design of this simple and elegant place where we serve precise, home-style cooking (tart with onion and dry ceps, flat omelette and blown with the fourme) where also memories of voyages (fish and chips, Indian sauce or sea bream ceviche). It also sells high-quality products such as the judion, an enormous white bean found in tapas bars in Seville and an ingredient of choice for artichoke livers.

In 2015, Le Central celebrated its 20th anniversary.

In 2001, Michel Troisgros opened the Koumir (meaning "diva") restaurant in Moscow, in a 19th century mansion, between Pushkin Square and Red Square. This presence in Russia lasts 3 years. Faced with the difficulty in obtaining quality ingredients, Michel did not renew his contract.

In 2004, Michel Troisgros opened the table at the Hotel Lancaster in the 8th arrondissement of Paris. A year later, he was awarded a star by the Michelin Guide. In 2014, the change of ownership puts an end to 10 years of collaboration.

In September 2006, Michel Troisgros opened the restaurant Cuisine(s) Michel Troisgros in the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Tokyo. The address quickly became a good reputation and obtained 2 stars Michelin Guide in 2008. Today the chef is Guillaume Bracaval, the pastry chef is Michele Abbatemarco and the management of the restaurant is entrusted to Damien Mazars also sommelier. The cuisine offered is close to the spirit of Roanne, but Michel leaves his chefs the freedom to create new dishes, which are initiated from local and seasonal products. This makes a French cuisine with a slight oriental accent.

In June 2008, Marie-Pierre and Michel opened a new establishment, La Colline du Colombier, a few kilometers from Roanne, at Iguerande in the Saône-et-Loire of the Brionnais region. The rural and warm decor offers two lodgings for four people and three houses (cadoles) on stilts with balconies on the countryside. The project required almost 2.8 million euros of investment. We owe the design and architecture to Patrick Bouchain. The experience of La Colline du Colombier is a first step towards the countryside.

On February 18, 2017, the new Troisgros establishment opened. At the foot of the Côte roannaise, a large neighboring house with a large farm, woods, meadows, orchard and pond. In the center, stands the glass restaurant. It is huddled under a hundred-year-old oak tree and blends into the surrounding nature: it is called Le Bois sans feuilles. On the farm are the reception areas, the cellars and the kitchen. The large house has 15 rooms as guest rooms.

The Troisgros family is assisted by key people, chiefs Florian Pansin and Arnaud Montrobert, directors Patrice Laurent, Carole Quint and Benjamin Guillaum

Awards

Videography

Chefs who have been apprenticed to the Troisgros