It may be difficult to believe but Robuchon's rise to Michelin stardom began with the help of his mastery of mashed potatoes, or pomme purée in French. His desire to showcase how delicious a simple dish could be is a key characteristic of his cooking style, utilising the highest quality ingredients through top notch cooking skills to create excellence.

This dish helped him earned his Michelin credentials at his first restaurant, Jamin in Paris, in 1981, where he won a star every year consecutively for three years in a row.

A fascination with Japanese and Spanish cuisines led him to create a brand new dining experience under the name L'Atelier de Joël Robuchon, first opening in Paris in 2003 and quickly blossoming to other major international cities around the world such as Tokyo, Hong Kong, Bangkok and Shanghai, to name a few.

Robuchon used to have restaurants in Singapore but has since closed down this year.

His success in teaching and operating an army of talented culinary staff across the globe can be attributed to his worldwide presence in 12 cities, where his atelier embraces the colours black and red in lieu of the traditional white and gold found in French gastronomy.

The way the kitchen at his Atelier is designed is also meant to put his chefs and food front and centre when it comes to the dining experience, challenging and shifting the perception of what luxury French restaurants can bring to the international stage. 

With the recent passing of Anthony Bourdain and another French culinary legend, Paul Bocuse, 2018 has seen some unfortunate deaths of cooking icons respected the world over.

Rest in peace monsieur Robuchon and merci beaucoup.