Pierre Gagnaire (born 9 April 1950) is a French chef, and the head chef and owner of the eponymous Pierre Gagnaire restaurant at 6 rue Balzac in Paris (in the 8th arrondissement). Gagnaire is an iconoclastic chef at the forefront of the fusion cuisine movement.[citation needed] Beginning his career in St. Etienne where he won three Michelin Stars, Gagnaire tore at the conventions of classic French cooking by introducing jarring juxtapositions of flavours, tastes, textures, and ingredients.
On his website, Gagnaire gives his mission statement as the wish to run a restaurant which is 'facing tomorrow but respectful of yesterday' ("tourné vers demain mais soucieux d'hier").[citation needed]
In December 2009, Gagnaire made his United States debut with Twist, a new restaurant at the Mandarin Oriental in Las Vegas, which received a Forbes Five-Star Award[citation needed] but has since closed.
Media appearances
Pierre Gagnaire has made appearances on Fuji TV's Iron Chef. He represented France in the 1995 Iron Chef World Cup in Tokyo, with the other chefs chosen being Italy's Gianfranco Vissani and Hong Kong's Xu Cheng as well as Iron Chef Japanese Rokusaburo Michiba representing Japan. He also appeared in the "France Battle Special" at Château de Brissac, where he battled Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai.[citation needed]
