Hélène Darroze named best female chef in the world
Previously seen in front of the French version of "Top Chef"'s cameras last season, Hélène Darroze has been named as the Veuve Clicquot world's best female chef 2015. The award is voted on by about 1,000 restaurant industry experts and international gourmets who are members of the Diners' Club World's 50 Best Restaurants Academy.
The chef from the Landes region in southwestern France will receive her award on June 1 in London when the list of the world's 50 best restaurants is revealed. In fact, it's in the English capital that the chef made a name for herself among foreign gastronomes. In 2008, the former student of Alain Ducasse took over the kitchen at the legendary Connaught Hotel in the Mayfair neighborhood. At this prestigious epicurean temple, Chef Darroze deploys the entire gamut of French culinary techniques and savors in her arsenal.
The French, on the other hand, knew her long before. Her eponymous restaurant opened in Paris's Saint-Germain-des-Près neighborhood way back in 1999. Today, her popularity has only increased since becoming a judge on the French version of "Top Chef," the television sensation reproduced all over the world that pits professional chefs in culinary battles with each other.
That makes two!
Hélène Darroze joins an exclusive group of best female chefs that includes Elena Arzak of Arzak in San Sebastian, Spain, Anne-Sophie Pic of Maison Pic in Valence, France, Nadia Santini of Dal Pescatore in Canneto sull'Oglio, Italy, and last year's winner, Helen Rizzo of Mani in São Paulo, Brazil. France is the only country in the world represented twice in the history of Veuve Cliquot Best Female Chef Award.
Criticized in France by certain chefs who only see a list decided on by sponsors, could it be that the "50 Best Restaurants" is trying to reconcile with the gastronomic country by doubling down on its female talents? And yet it's worth noting that the prize is named after one of the most important French business women, one who left her mark on the history of Champagne through her visionary insights on the market.
