Bruno Menard is a French chef. Early in his career, he became executive chef at the restaurant Tatou Tokyo,^[1][2] from which he was invited to compete on Iron Chef.^[3] He began to experiment with combining French and Japanese cuisine when he took over as chef at the Ritz-Carlton in Osaka.^[2] He then took over "The Dining Room" restaurant at Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta and was awarded five stars by Mobil Travel Guide and five diamonds by AAA guide.^[4][5] In the early 2000s, he moved back to Tokyo to take over as head chef at L'Osier, earning 3 Michelin stars.^[2] After L'Osier closed in 2011 for repair, he left the restaurant to start a consulting firm and has judged on MasterChef Asia.^[6] He has also been president of Bocuse d'Or Singapore and helped found the Bocuse d'Or Singapore Academy.^[7] Saint-Cyr-sur-Loire, France named a street after him—Rue Bruno Menard.^[8]

Early life and career

Menard was born in 1962 in Tours, France into a family of professional chefs. His father was a pastry chef specializing in chocolate, his grandfather was a patissier and cook, and his other grandfather a charcutier.^[9] Partly inspired by his family, he began cooking at age six, and at age eight, his father invited him to work in a one-star Michelin restaurant near his hometown of Tours.^[10][9][2] According to Menard, the first dish he learned to cook was croquette Pojarski.^[2] In his 20s, he began working under 3-Michelin star chef Charles Barrier and then Jean Bardet.^[11] At age 27–28, he became the youngest French Chef to obtain 17/20 and 3 toques in Gault Millau guide as Executive Chef at the restaurant “Le Golden” in Niort.^[12][13]

Television

• Iron Chef (1995)
• MasterChef Asia (2015)

References