Chef César Troisgros, heir to the famous family lineage and the Bois Sans Feuilles oven in Ouches (Loire), was crowned chef of the year 2026 on Monday by the Gault et Millau guide.
Representative of the fourth generation of a family of chefs crowned with three Michelin stars for more than half a century, the 39-year-old chef has led the flagship of the family business since 2023.
Third title in the family
César Troisgros succeeded his father Michel, himself crowned chef of the year by Gault et Millau in 2003, while his grandfather Pierre received the same title in 1987.
A “fairly unique” situation, Marc Esquerré, director of guides and surveys for the yellow guide, told AFP. “Never have a grandfather, a father and a son been crowned with the same title. » For him, this distinction recognizes “a dynasty which has produced chefs of great talent”, but also “the transmission”.
Trained at the Bocuse Institute near Lyon and then working for major French and American restaurants, César Troisgros joined the family business in the early 2010s. “He cooks a cuisine that is in harmony with what his father and grandfather did, but he really has his own style,” emphasizes Marc Esquerré.
Le Bois sans Feuilles, installed since 2017 in Ouches, continues a story born in 1930 in Roanne, when his great-grandparents, Jean-Baptiste and Marie Troisgros, opened their first house facing the station. Their son Pierre cut his teeth there with his brother Jean and took over the family restaurant with him in 1953. Renamed “Les Frères Troisgros”, the establishment earned three stars between 1956 and 1968, driven by inventive cuisine that became emblematic of Nouvelle Cuisine.
Women in the spotlight
César Troisgros succeeds Frédéric Anton, the three-star Parisian chef at Pré Catelan and the two-star Jules Verne restaurant at the Eiffel Tower.
The 2026 edition also puts women in the spotlight: Anne Coruble (L’Oiseau Blanc, Peninsula Paris) is crowned pastry chef of the year, Fanny Perrot (Alléno Paris) room manager of the year and Marion Cirino (L’Ambroisie in Paris) sommelier of the year.
Loïs Bée, from La Table – Christophe Hay and Loïs Bée in Ardon (Loiret), has for her part been designated “great of tomorrow”. Romain Zaragaza from the Lueurs establishment in Bouchemaine (Maine-et-Loire) was crowned “young indoor talent”.