Marc Veyrat (born 8 May 1950) is a French chef from the

Haute-Savoie Haute-Savoie (; Arpitan: ''Savouè d'Amont'' or ''Hiôta-Savouè''; en, Upper Savoy) or '; it, Alta Savoia. is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France, bordering both Switzerland and Italy. Its prefecture is ...

region, who specialises in

molecular gastronomy Molecular gastronomy is the scientific approach of nutrition from primarily the perspective of chemistry. The composition (molecular structure), properties (mass, viscosity, etc) and transformations (chemical reactions, reactant products) of an ...

and the use of mountain plants and herbs. Veyrat has obtained a total of nine

Michelin Stars The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

and is the first cook to get the perfect grade of 20/20 in the

Gault et Millau Gault et Millau is a French restaurant guide. It was founded by two restaurant critics, Henri Gault and Christian Millau in 1965. Points system Gault Millau rates on a scale of 1 to 20, with 20 being the highest. Restaurants given below 10 points ...

guide for each of his two first restaurants. He was the owner of the restaurants ''La Maison de Marc Veyrat'' (or ''l'Auberge de l'Eridan'') in Veyrier-du-Lac and '' la Ferme de mon Père'' in

Megève Megève (; frp, Megéva) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Southeastern France with a population of more than 3,000 residents. The town is well known as a ski resort near Mont Blanc in the French ...

. He currently operates the restaurant ''La Maison des Bois'' in

Manigod Manigod (; frp, Manegôd) is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Eastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 998. Geography The linked area of Manigod consists of several different ski areas: La ...

. All three restaurants obtained three stars. In 2019, Veyrat was awarded two Michelin Stars for ''La Maison des Bois'', and is suing Michelin saying that the loss of one star was a miscommunication. On 24 February 2009, he announced that he would cease all of his activities at ''la Maison de Marc Veyrat'' due to his declining health. The hotel is currently being run by his children. He started a chain of organic "fast-food" restaurants all over France called ''la Cozna Vera''. The first one opened in

Annecy Annecy ( , ; frp, Èneci or ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Haute-Savoie department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It lies on the northern tip of Lake Annecy, south of Geneva, Switzerland. Nicknamed ...

in 2008 and was later closed in 2010. He has plans to build other restaurants in Épagny, Brussels, and Paris. His work was featured on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

's '' Discovery Atlas: France Revealed''. In December 2015, Veyrat was fined €100,000 by a French court after illegally cutting down 7,000 sq metres of protected forest near one of his restaurants.

Cuisine

Marc Veyrat is known for his creativity and use of natural and organic ingredients. He specialises in

. Rather than using butter, flour, eggs, oil, or cream, he instead uses roots, mountain plants, mountain herbs, and wild flowers harvested in the

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

Controversy

After losing his third Michelin star in the 2019 edition of the ''

Red Guide The Michelin Guides ( ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The Guide awards up to three Michelin stars for excellence to a select few establishments. The acquisition or loss of a ...

'' which appeared in January 2019, Marc Veyrat asked in July to be removed from the guide, but Michelin refused. In September 2019 he filed a suit against Michelin demanding a full explanation for the lost star, including the notes made by inspectors at the time of their visit and the explicit reasons for the removal of the third star. However, the judges held that "the independence of the evaluation constitutes the liberty of expression of the guide's inspectors," and ordered him to pay the court costs.

Gallery

Portrait du Chef Marc VEYRAT.jpg Marc Veyrat 020.jpg Marc Veyrat 021.jpg Marc Veyrat 022.jpg Marc Veyrat 023.jpg Marc Veyrat 024.jpg Marc Veyrat 026.jpg

Bibliography

* ''Fou de saveurs'' (1994) * ''Herbier gourmand'' (1997) * ''La cuisine paysanne'' (1998) * ''Quatre saisons (à la carte)'' (2000) * ''L'herbier des montagnes – Tout savoir sur les plantes et les fleurs d'altitude'' (2000) * ''Déguster les plantes sauvages'' (2003) * ''L'encyclopédie culinaire du XXIe siècle'' (2003) * ''L'herbier à croquer'' (2004) * ''Le gibier en 80 recettes'' (2004) * ''Herbier gourmand'' (2004) * ''Cuisine paysanne'' (2005)

References

External links

marcveyrat.fr

Gourmandia Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Veyrat, Marc 1950 births Living people French chefs Cuisine of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Head chefs of Michelin starred restaurants