
Paul Bocuse, Celebrated French Chef, Dies at 91 - NaOH
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/20/obituaries/paul-bocuse-dead.html
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jfoucher
I very clearly remember eating there for my twelfth birthday. Absolutely mind-
blowing in every possible way. I still remember the cheese cart as if it was
yesterday. The food was excellent and the service was... I don't know how to
put it. An anecdote may be clearer: at one point I dropped my fork on the
floor, as sometimes happens where you're a kid. Well I didn't have time to
bend down to pick it up because a waiter had run over and grabbed it before
me. About 5 or 10 seconds later he returned with a clean fork, set on a
cushion, itself carried on a large silver plate. So there you go, as far as
I'm concerned a well deserved reputation and a sad day for french cuisine.

Edit: just to clarify, that this was 27 years ago and I haven't returned
since.

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fermienrico
Not to take away from your story, but every single restaurant I have ever been
in my life does this - if a waiter sees something drop on the floor, they'll
bring you a new set. This is an expectation and not the exception when you go
to any sit down restaurant.

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rbcgerard
I don’t believe the point of the antedote was that they brought him a
replacement piece of silverware.

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fermienrico
I understood the point that the service was excellent. All I am saying is that
bringing a new set of silverware is very common.

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ryguytilidie
I really dont know how someone could read that story and think the point he
was trying to make was "i'm impressed that this restaurant brought me new
silverware".

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eric_khun
What I like about him is that he was upset about this this super small dish
that you pay at a really expensive price. He used to say "La nouvelle cuisine,
c'était rien dans l'assiette, tout dans l'addition". What means: the new
cooking, it's nothing in your plate, everything in the check.

If you like great food, you should come try it traditional french food in
Lyon, in the kind of restaurants we call "Bouchons"
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyonnaise_cuisine](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lyonnaise_cuisine))

Some restaurants I recommend for not crazy price: Le musée, Leon de lyon

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titanix2
That's a very sad & true fact. I had a family dinner at a one Michelin star
restaurant, and while everything was really good, I have a hard time
recognising what I ate as a meal because of the quantity. The basic point of a
meal is to be satiated, so I don't see the point of eating (very) good stuff
for that price if I need to eat something else two hours after.

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ryanwaggoner
It probably depends on the restaurant and the person. I’m nearly two hundred
pounds and active and I’ve eaten at a half dozen Michelin 3-stars, with meals
usually lasting 3-4 hours. Never left feeling hungry.

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baby
For me it's not about leaving hungry, but more about having an actual taste of
the food you're eating. For example I've eaten at 42 grams which was a
fantastic 2-star in Chicago but I can't really remember any dish as they were
just a few bites each. On the other hand Anglo in London is still a tasting
menu but each dish is larger which let you appreciate what you're eating more.

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pieterr
Remarkable: Bocuse died in the same room above his restaurant in which he was
born.

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chx
Last September, I scored a table at the Restaurant Saisons of the Institut
Paul Bocuse. The meal blew my mind. It was an explosion of tastes (and
colors!). Without question it was the best meal I ever had -- and I had the
luck to eat in various Michelin star restaurants before. They can't hold a
candle.

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kleiba
Bon appetit: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WYb-
UDN22w&t=7m50s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WYb-UDN22w&t=7m50s)

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anonu
There's a good Parts Unknown episode (with Anthony Bourdain) that introduced
me to Bocuse. Recommended watching..

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rmason
Here he's interviewed about that episode. Bourdain calls that meal his
favorite and likens Bocuse to Mohammad Ali for the impact he had.

[https://www.youtube.com/v/hV6h8tvDgTg?start=0&end=80](https://www.youtube.com/v/hV6h8tvDgTg?start=0&end=80)

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antirez
Incidentally Gualtiero Marchesi, which is the Italian symmetrical, also died a
few weeks ago.

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conover
“God is already famous, but that doesn’t stop the preacher from ringing the
church bells every morning.”

Great quote.

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cknight
I have to admit that the 6 months I spent living in Lyon were not all that
enjoyable for me, for a myriad of reasons. But the food... no complaints
there. I never stumped up the money to go for a starred establishment, but the
various Bouchons I did go to were fantastic. Also, lots of sushi. Not sure
why.

One thing I learned about the city from quite early on was just how huge a
figure this man was. I spent the first month there in an AirBnB across the
road from the marketplace that bore his name. A Mexican friend of mine, also a
chef, would not stop raving about the time he had spent living there and what
this man could do. A huge loss for Lyon, but what he's left them with will be
of benefit for years to come.

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nyc111
Nice series of videos about him cooking
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AR5Oviezvg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AR5Oviezvg)

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ubikkibu
This is #1 on HackerNews? Why?

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Malic
Because being a hacker is about obsessively working to know all there is about
a given subject and become better in a chosen craft. Bocuse was cooking
hacker.

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Malic
I forgot to mention - he was also a teacher of his craft and that counts too.

