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2024-08-25T15:30:39Z

replacing {{IPA-fr| → {{IPA|fr| (deprecated template)

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{{Short description|French chef (1937–1990)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Infobox chef 
| name = Alain Chapel
| image = Alain Chapel.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1937|12|30}}
| birth_place = [[Lyon]], France
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1990|07|10|1937|12|30}}
| death_place = [[Avignon]], France
| style = [[Nouvelle Cuisine]]
| education = [[Fernand Point]]
| ratings = 
| restaurants =
| prevrests = Hotel Alain Chapel, [[Mionnay]] {{Rating|3|3}}
| television =
| awards =
| website = http://www.alainchapel.fr (discontinued)
}}
'''Alain Chapel''' ({{IPA|fr|alɛ̃ ʃapɛl}}; 30 December 1937 – 10 July 1990) was a [[France| French]] [[chef]], credited with being one of the originators of [[Nouvelle Cuisine]]. He earned three [[Michelin Guide|Michelin]] stars.<ref name="NYTimes"/>

==Early life==
Chapel was born in [[Lyon]], the son of [[Maître d']] Charles and his wife Eva. At the outbreak of World War II, the family moved to the village of [[Mionnay]] 12 miles outside the city, where his father opened a [[bistro]] called ''La Mere Charles'' in an old [[coaching inn]] surrounded by lush gardens. There Alain Chapel received his first training.<ref name="NYTimes"/>

==Career==
[[File:Restaurant d'Alain Chapel à Mionnay.JPG|thumb|Former restaurant of Alain Chapel in [[Mionnay]]]]

In the 1960s, [[Paul Bocuse]], Alain Chapel, [[Jean Troisgros|Jean]] and [[Pierre Troisgros]], and [[Michel Guérard]] "disrupted restaurant culture... Breaking away from the long-established rules of French haute cuisine, the group pushed for food to look and taste more like the stuff it’s actually made from, to be leaner and lighter and brighter."<ref name="Bloomberg_2016_Tejal Rao">{{cite news |last=Rao |first=Tejal |date=May 9, 2016|title=Fish That's Worth a Flight to France |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-les-pres-d-eugenie/ |work=[[Bloomberg News]] |access-date=December 17, 2020 }}</ref>

Alain Chapel eventually returned to the family bistro which was then upgraded to a restaurant. In 1967 it was awarded its first Michelin star. After taking over the restaurant in 1970 on the death of his father, he converted the inn to a hotel and renamed it in 1980 in his own name. In 1973, Chapel gained his third Michelin star, then one of only 19 restaurants all in France which had ever then gained the honour.<ref name="NYTimes"/>

Chapel's signature dishes included stuffed calves' ears with fried parsley, truffle-stuffed chicken tightly enveloped in a pork bladder and cooked in a rich chicken broth. [[Food critic]] [[Craig Claiborne]] writing for ''[[The New York Times]]'' in 1977 described Chapel's gateau de foies blonds as "his ultimate triumph" and "one of the absolute cooking glories of this generation". According to the ''[[Gault Millau]] Guide to France'': "A meal at Chapel's restaurant was like a symphony."<ref name="NYTimes"/><ref name="GV">{{cite web|url=http://www.gourmetvoyageurs.com/country-pages/pages-france/center-east/alain-chapel.html|title=Restaurant "Alain Chapel", Mionnay, France|publisher=gourmetvoyageurs.com|year=2006|access-date=28 August 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081120133200/http://www.gourmetvoyageurs.com/country-pages/pages-france/center-east/alain-chapel.html|archive-date=20 November 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Throughout the rest of his life, the establishment retained all three of its Michelin stars. The speed of transformation and the elaborate cuisine turned the village of [[Mionnay]] into a culinary landmark on any serious gastronomic tour of France.<ref name="NYTimes"/> The attraction was also as great for young chefs, who sought the opportunity to work with Chapel – these included [[Michel Roux Jr]].<ref name="Hub">{{cite web|url=http://www.hub-uk.com/chefsbios/michelrouxjr.htm|title=Biography : CHEF MICHEL ROUX JR|publisher=Hub UK|access-date=28 August 2008| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080915032219/http://www.hub-uk.com/chefsbios/michelrouxjr.htm| archive-date= 15 September 2008 | url-status= live}}</ref>

==Death and succession==

[[File:Ancien cimetière de la Croix-Rousse - nov 2016 (36).JPG|thumb|Grave of Alain Chapel]]

Chapel died of a stroke in 1990, leaving his wife Suzanne, and two sons, David and Romain.<ref name="NYTimes">{{cite web|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE7DE123CF932A25754C0A966958260|title=Alain Chapel, French Master Chef And Restaurateur, Is Dead at 53|author=Kleiman, Dena|work=The New York Times |date=11 July 1990}}</ref> Under chef Philippe Jousse, and then Chapel's son Romain, the restaurant maintained two Michelin stars until closing in 2012.<ref>{{cite web|author=François Duvivier |url=http://tastingbites.blogspot.de/2012/04/mionnay-france-maison-alain-chapel.html |title=Tasting Bites: Mionnay, France: Maison Alain Chapel |publisher=Tastingbites.blogspot.de |date=2 April 2012}}</ref>

He is buried in [[Croix-Rousse cemetery]] in [[Lyon]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.landrucimetieres.fr/spip/spip.php?article3946|title=LYON (69) : ancien cimetière de la Croix Rousse - Cimetières de France et d'ailleurs|website=www.landrucimetieres.fr|language=fr|access-date=6 October 2018}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://www.alainchapel.fr Hotel Alain Chapel] ''in French''
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081120133200/http://www.gourmetvoyageurs.com/country-pages/pages-france/center-east/alain-chapel.html 2006 review of Hotel Alain Chapel]
*[https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.relaischateaux.com/chapel&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3DAlain%2BChapel%26hl%3Den%26client%3Dsafari%26rls%3Den Hotel Alain Chapel at Relais Chateaux]
*[http://morecookbooksthansense.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/les-recettes-originales-de-alain-chapel.html In-depth profile assessing Alain Chapel's achievements and influence]

{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chapel, Alain}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:1990 deaths]]
[[Category:Head chefs of Michelin-starred restaurants]]
[[Category:Chefs from Lyon]]

Alain Chapel - Revision history

imported>RodRabelo7: replacing {{IPA-fr| → {{IPA|fr| (deprecated template)