no. 59: third wave

Our meal at Michel Guerard begins in the courtyard, in the shade of a palm tree and a mandarin bush. We are two and a half hours west of Toulouse, in a stretch of southern France best known for producing foie gras. The sun is not yet at its peak, and the breeze is warm. It’s physically impossible not to relax. 

We’re here to see a legend before it ends (is this what FOMO feels like?). Guerard, at 89, is the last man standing of the chefs who established Nouvelle Cuisine. Attribution is always contestable, but in any list of chefs associated with the movement, his is one of the names that invariably appears. Wikipedia also credits him with being the first grand chef to be associated with l’industrie agro-alimentaire, creating a line of frozen foods for Nestle that included Pithiviers feuilleté mousse de cresson et beurre blanc.