ゴ・エ・ミヨの歴史
Gault & Millau was started in 1969 by two journalists and food critics, Henri Gault and Christian Millau. And to this day, they have remained true to the essence and values of their new cuisine. Just as it did 50 years ago, Gault et Millot faces all the challenges of our time in order to keep pace with the times.
Today, in addition to the annual French edition of the guidebook, Gault & Millau publishes eight regional guidebooks, a wine guidebook, a champagne guidebook, more than 4,000 artisans, and licensing agreements in 18 countries, as well as "Gault & Millau" by grand chefs who have led the French culinary world for over 25 years. The "Gault&Millau Academy" of grand chefs who have led the French culinary world for over 25 years, the "109" (new blood) guidebook featuring 109 young chefs who represent the revival of French cuisine in Paris, and the "PoP by Gault&Millau", a selection of casual restaurants that reflect the current atmosphere of the times. PoP by Gault&Millau", a selection of casual restaurants that reflect the times. Further plans include a "Gault et Millau Tour," grants to support the opening of young talents, and the development of a number of digital platforms and application tools.
Gault et Millau has been discovering exceptional talent for more than 50 years
The adventures of Gault et Millau began in the 1960s in the editorial offices of Paris-Presse. Henri Gault demonstrated his talent as an "excellent reporter" and Christian Millot was editorial director of the "magazines. In 1961, Henri Gault was assigned a weekly column called "Weekends and Walks" by Pierre Charpy, the head of the department. He took his old car and began exploring the Paris area in search of information and places to introduce. Meanwhile, Christian Milhaud was reading over the city-walking articles of Henri Gault, who would later become a partner of "Gault et Milhaud.
Every Friday, the two would write a city-walking article on their favorite weekend plans and places to visit (a castle with a collapsed roof, the idyllic countryside, etc.). However, it was the restaurant reviews that interested readers the most. This project was responding to the demands of readers with new values. At the time, French people were beginning to think about a freer way of life, changing the way they spent their weekends and enjoying leisure activities. No longer worried about hunger due to postwar food shortages, people's palates were becoming more sophisticated, more natural, and more authentic.
The Spirit and Independence of Gault et Millau
At that time, first-class cuisine was stuck in a rut, unchanged since the prewar period. The Michelin Guide, too, was a defender of the "outdated" regional cuisine of the French tradition handed down since the 19th century, with its tendency to value plentiful plates, heavy, calorie-dense sauces, and opulent, bourgeois restaurants. It was a bit of a "run-of-the-mill" rating, in keeping with the image that French cuisine embodies. When the same restaurants were always featured and the top chefs and establishments were revered as if they were sacrosanct, Gault had no hesitation in demeaning them as "the worst" and rating Auntie Ursule's bistro's ragout as "delicious."
Traditional French cuisine was thus given a pass by Friday's column. Their willingness to look critically at authority and publish, and their independence in their evaluations, won over many readers, and the Friday column was a success. When Gault introduced a new restaurant, it was fully booked the next day. The Paris Press was riding a wave of success, and Gault went on to write a daily one-page article as well as a weekend column dedicated to Paris.
In 1962, the first guide to Paris
Christian Bourgeois, literary director of Juliard Publishing, published a selection of Friday columns under the title "What Christian Bourgeois Wants to See and Eat," which became a bestseller. From here, the idea was born to create a guidebook that would offer a contemporary, journalistic look at Parisian restaurants as well as boutiques, artisans, wine stores, charming hotels, and walking trails. Christian Bourgeois has no hesitation in funding this project. In 1962, the first Paris guidebooks published by Julliard appeared in bookstores, and a new style of guidebook was born: the "Gault et Millau" monster with two heads and two stomachs.
1969: The Birth of a New Guide
Gault et Millau became financially independent, and soon a small team of like-minded people was formed. They were Marie and Nicole, Gault's two sisters-in-law; Yves Bidot, a friend of Miot's and a professional journalist; André Guyot, a colleague from his military service who was in charge of accounting and administration; Jean-Luc Luder, an art critic; and Roger, a well-informed cyclist. They started out in three small attics on rue Montmartre, then moved to the nearby Place Mobert. It was "brilliantly cluttered," he says. We had visitors sitting on crates of Bordeaux wine. But out of that corner of dirty wine glasses and tables, in March 1969, a new guidebook was born again. Our poverty was our trump card. This is exactly the same with food. Too much butter and cream can ruin a great dish. The real talent is simplicity. But that is the hardest part," said Christian Millot.
Nouvelle Cuisine
Determined to revamp the bourgeois and outdated image of French cuisine, Gault and Millot searched and researched new establishments all over France. Hotels, restaurants, boutiques, artisans, wine stores, their curiosity was insatiable.
As a result of their experiences on foot and the many cuisines they sampled, they found the future of Nouvelle Cuisine in the cuisine of Paul Bocuse. A simple "salad with green beans and tomatoes" was a revelation, and they were convinced that the new cuisine was to be found in such a dish. Later, at Roanne, he met the Troisgros brothers, who served him a frog dish flavored with herbs. It was all cooked "now," with no preparation the day before. This is how "Nouvelle Cuisine" was born, with its emphasis on forgotten flavors, simplicity and lightness. They disseminated this new concept widely through articles and the guidebooks became popular.
First edition of the "Gault et Millau" guide in 1972
In 1972, the first edition of the Gault et Millau guide was published in France, revolutionizing the culinary industry. In search of worthy restaurants, Gault and Millot roamed all over France. They focused on taste, presentation, and the chef's imagination, rather than the opulence, tableware, and cleanliness that Michelin values. With complete independence, Gault and Millot proudly settled their accounts and assigned scores regardless of other guidebooks' ratings.
Finding Sandrance, Robuchon, Gagnaire, and others
With the progress of the Gault et Millau guide, the French got to know the masters of the future. Whether in Paris or in the countryside, the two Gault et Millau authors discovered famous chefs who now need no introduction: Alain Sandrance, Joel Robuchon, Guy Savoy, Marc Veyrat, Pierre Gagnaire, Michel Rostand, and many more. Gault et Millau is the first restaurant in the world to be opened in Nouveau. Gault et Millau became a pioneer in the discovery of nouvelle cuisine. His discovery brought French cuisine out of its coma and created a new lifestyle.
Nouvelle Cuisine: A New Style Created by Gault et Millau
Gault et Millau's discovery of Nouvelle Cuisine coincided with a new, more refined lifestyle. It was Gault and Millot who created this expression, but it was the chefs themselves who rose to power in the kitchen. This was the result of young chefs in their 30s and 40s who wanted to modernize their cuisine and meet the new demands of their consumers.
In an article published in 1973, Henri Gault and Christian Millot defined the "Ten Commandments" of nouvelle cuisine. These were guidelines for young chefs who wanted to share in the new values of the cuisine. Most of these standards are still valid today.
The most important of these precepts are accurate cooking, using fresh ingredients from the marché instead of sauce bases prepared the day before, and reducing the number of choices on the menu. Gault et Millau swept away heavy, calorie-dense sauces and praised the principles of dietetics and the chef's creativity in garnishing ingredients. The magazine of the time clearly outlines this new gastronomy. Light, simple, yet always refined: these are the principles still practiced today.
The 10 Commandments of Nouvelle Cuisine
1. Do not overcook.
2. use fresh, quality ingredients
3. keep the menu light
4. You don't necessarily have to be a modernist.
5. still research what can be done with new techniques
6. Avoid marinating, aging, fermenting, etc.
7. Eliminate heavy sauces.
8. Don't ignore diet.
9. Don't cheat in presentation.
10. Be original.
First edition of SPECIAL VINS, 1978
It was Christian Millot who came up with the idea of a special wine magazine. The idea came to him to gather food critics in the vineyards during the grape harvest to promote French wines.
The magazine, labeled "SPECIAL," was published in September 1978 at a price of 5 francs. Its headlines, which have been carried over to the present day, were "Paris, Restaurants of Every Price" and "All the Wines on 80 Pages and 500 Wine Connoisseurs' Suggestions.
1984: The birth of the wine guidebook
In September 1984, Gault et Millau published the first edition of its wine guidebook. It is titled "Guidebook to French Wines: The First Practical Guide to 1,500 Wines of Excellent Quality and Price Balance. Under the responsibility of Henri Gault and Christian Millot, Fernand Wouters, Joseph Grand, and Philippe des Rois du Louvre were selected as tasting members.
The reputation grew and many tasters and journalists came to Gault et Millot to learn its know-how.
Soon, news, economic, financial, and political magazines began to include articles on wine to add color to their pages. That is why every year, during the grape harvest, special issues on wine appear in kiosks all over France.
Gault et Millau and the World
The success of the Gault et Millau guide and magazine led Henri Gault and Christian Millau to appear on the cover of Time magazine in the U.S. in 1980, a great honor as few Frenchmen have appeared on the cover of Time since its publication in 1923.
In 2012, Gault et Millau published a restaurant guide in Hungary, followed by Australia in 2013 and Poland in 2014. In 2016, Gault et Millau made new history in Japan. Gault et Millau Japon continues to search for the best restaurants and new talents in the rich culinary culture created by its predecessors.
Gault et Millau today
Discoverers of exceptional talent and creators of trends, the experts at Gault et Millau have been working hard for nearly 50 years, always with a strong sense of conviction. Throughout the year, our research teams roam the streets of all of France, following up on the restaurants we have already introduced and looking for new ones. Regional auberges, city bistros, guest houses, fashionable hotels, creative cuisine, easy-drinking wines, famous and local wines that impress... Gault et Millau is always on the lookout for the best ingredients, the best restaurants, the best things that bring taste and pleasure to its readers.
In the fall of 2019, at a gala event at the Moulin Rouge in Paris, the creation of awards such as the Gault et Millau Academy, Masterpieces, and Chefs & Craftsmen was announced, as well as a number of guidebooks for the 50th anniversary of the company. Notable among these was "109" (a play on the French word 109 and "new blood"), which focuses on young talent.
Académie Gault et Millau.
Established in 2019, the 10 most experienced chefs were selected for the Gault et Millau Academy, having earned at least 17 out of 20 points for more than 25 years. As a token of appreciation, they were presented with a new classification, the "five golden toques," as well as the objective of sharing their visions and ideas on several agendas that are currently under consideration. For example, they will be involved in the development of the themes for the Gault et Millau tour and the "Jeunes Talents" (a fund to help young chefs start their own businesses), as well as in the preparation of a manifesto to government agencies on the economic and social needs of the catering industry, among many other projects.
For the 2020 edition, the 10 members of the Academy are Michel Guérard, Georges Blanc, Michel Trama, Pierre Gagnaire, Marc Veyrat, Guy Savoy, Marc Auberlain, Régis Marcon, Alain Passart, and Alain Ducasse. Alain Passard, and Alain Ducasse.
