Michel Richard, French-born American chef, Died at 68

  Business

Michel Louis-Marie Richard was born on March 7, 1948, in Pabu, Brittany, France and died on August 13, 2016.

He was a French-born chef.

He was formerly the owner of the restaurant Citrus in Los Angeles.

Richard owned the restaurant Carmel and Central in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Washington, D.C.

He grew up in Champagne.

Richard learned to cook when he was age 7.

He took part in the French equivalent of the Fresh Air Fund, at only 9 years old.

After he was told that if he wanted to be a chef he first needed to learn to be a pastry chef, by age 14 he was an apprentice baker at a hotel in Reims.

Following his service in the French Army he worked at the bakery Maison Lenotre in Paris, under French pastry chef Gaston Lenotre.

Richard opened Lenotre’s short-lived New York branch, Chateau France, then moved to Santa Fe, New Mexico, to run the French Pastry Shop at La Fonda Hotel.

During 1977 he was in Los Angeles, where he opened another Michel Richard Pastry Shop.

Michel used the profits to eat in France’s three-star restaurants, and solidifying his desire to move beyond pastry, and to train himself to be a chef over the next ten years.

During 1986, Michel opened the restaurant Citrus in Los Angeles.

However, Satellites of Citrus were opened in Santa Barbara, Baltimore, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., all of which eventually closed.

During 1997, he sold half of his interest in the restaurant to Meristar Corporation, which is also his partner in Citronelle.

During 1989, Richard opened Citronelle, in the Santa Barbara Inn Hotel in Santa Barbara.

Later, he opened Bistro M in San Francisco, and Citronelle in Baltimore and Michel’s in Philadelphia.

During 1994, Michel opened Citronelle in The Latham Hotel in Georgetown. Later, he opened a branch of Citronelle at Carmel Valley Ranch in Carmel, California.

Then, Ten years later, he opened Central in Washington D.C..

He died due to a stroke.

Michel Richard passed away at 68 years old.