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CACM 131
December 17, 2012
Georges August Escoffier Georges August Escoffier was born on October 28, 1846, in Villeneuve-Loubet, France. He was the son of Jean-Baptiste Escoffier and his wife was Madeleine Civatte. His father was the villages blacksmith, farrier, locksmith, and maker of agricultural tools. Escoffier originally wanted to become a sculptor but he was forced to give up that dream at the age of thirteen, \ After he celebrated his first Holy Communion Escoffier was told without choice that he was going to be a cook. Escoffier started to work as a kitchen apprentice at his uncle's Restaurant Francais in Nice. He realized the significant role a good cook could play in society. Escoffier's uncle also taught him how to buy for a restaurant. Escoffier learned all of the responsibilities in a restaurant, After completing his four year apprenticeship Escoffier worked for two years at various restaurants in Nice such as Cercle Massena and Les Freres Provencaux. In April of 1865 Escoffier was recommended by M. Bardoux to work at his up-scale Parisian restaurant Le Petit Moulin Rouge in Paris.He worked his way up the ranks of the kitchen until the Franco- Prussian war in 1870. When the Franco-Prussian war broke out Escoffier was called to be an army cook in the Rhine Army General Headquarters. He was shipped to Metz, where he was in charge of the Second Division's food supply with his good friend, Bouniol. At Metz Escoffier saw the cruel truth about the war. Escoffier also had to deal with minimal food and rationing. \ When supplies ran out he had to resort to slaughtering horses for food. After the four month siege at Metz the French Army occupying the city surrendered, all of the soldiers became prisoners of war including Escoffier. Due to the fact that Escoffier was considered an officers orderly he had special rights and privileges. When Metz was evacuated, Escoffier was permitted to travel by train to meet up with his assigned officer in Mainz, only to find out his officer had been obliged to leave Mainz while his orderlies stayed at the prison camp. Life was hard at the camp, they only got one meal every 24-36 hours and the food was rancid most of the time. When Escoffier was finally permitted to work he found a job at the Kursaal in Wiesbaden. The Kursaal was a very elegant restaurant in the posh resort village of Wiesbaden. Escoffier was barely at the Kursaal ten days when MacMahon arrived in Wiesbaden and hired him as his chef de cuisine. There he spent the remainder of the war.
After the peace treaty was signed Escoffier boarded a train bound for France. When he reached Paris, Escoffier found that rioters had taken over the city. He immediately left the city and rejoined the army becoming chef de cuisine of Colonel Comte de Waldner.
After discharging from the army once again Escoffier returned to Nice and spent the winter season as chef de cuisine at Hotel Luxembourg. When Escoffier finally returned to Paris he re-opened Le Petit Moulin Rouge. Some of Le Petit Moulin Rouge's customers included Duc de Morny, the Prince of Wales, MacMahon, Gambetta, and Sarah Bernhardt. Three years after re-opening Le Petit Moulin Rouge he opened his own restaurant, Le Faisan Dore located in Cannes. Somehow he managed to divide his time between Le Petit Moulin Rouge and Le Faisan Dore. In August of 1878, thirteen days after leaving Le Petit Moulin Rouge for the last time, Escoffier got married at the age of 31. His bride, Delphine Daffis, is the oldest daughter of the editor, Paul Daffis. Later they will have two sons and a daughter together: Paul, Daniel, and Germaine. After only being married two months, Escoffier landed the position of manager of La Maison Chevet. La Maison Chevet was a famous caterer at the Palais Royale in Paris. It's specialty was catering meals in various capitals in Europe. One year later he becomes chef de cuisine at the Restaurant Maire in Paris, owned by a Mr. Paillard. Two years after that he founded the culinary magazine L'Art Culinaire in Paris. On June 5, 1898 the Hotel Ritz in Paris opens with Escoffier running the kitchens, that he organized himself. The Hotel Ritz was a success. A year later Ritz and Escoffier returned to London to complete the Carlton Hotel and open it on July 1, 1899. Once again Escoffier ran the kitchens, only this time he stayed until 1920. Between 1899 and 1920 Escoffier publishes Le Guide Culinaire and Livre des Menus, organizes the kitchens on ocean liners and opens the Ritz-Carlton in New York. In 1920 Escoffier retired in Monte Carlo where he lived out the rest of his years. On February 12, 1935 Auguste Escoffier dies at the age of 88, just two weeks after his wife passed away.