From the New York Times bestselling author of Provence, 1970, a lively, dramatic account of the spectacular rise of French “nouvelle cuisine,” and the renegade chefs of the 1960s and 1970s who revolutionized modern cooking.

In The Secret History of French Cooking, Luke Barr takes readers inside the culinary rebellion that upended the staid French food world and reinvented the role and cultural importance of chefs and restaurants. The very idea of the chef as creator—as innovator, artist, auteur—can be traced back to the legendary Paul Bocuse, Michel Guérard, and the Troisgros brothers, among other colorful characters. The book also tells the largely unknown story of a group of women chefs who fought for recognition in the all-male culinary establishment of the 1970s, and the villainous, powerful food critic who cast a shadow over the era.

This is a tale of rivalries, global success, and a ferocious backlash; of celebrity, money, politics, and incredibly delicious food. The Secret History of French Cooking reveals the origins of modern food and restaurant culture—the forces that shaped the way we eat today.

In a tale replete with scandal and opulence, Luke Barr, author of the New York Times bestselling Provence, 1970, transports readers to turn-of-the-century London and Paris to discover how celebrated hotelier César Ritz and famed chef Auguste Escoffier joined forces at the Savoy Hotel to spawn the modern luxury hotel and restaurant, where women and American Jews mingled with British high society, signaling a new social order and the rise of the middle class.

Provence, 1970 is about a singular historic moment. In the winter of that year, more or less coincidentally, six iconic culinary figures, including Julia Child, James Beard, and M.F.K. Fisher, found themselves together for a few weeks in the south of France. They cooked and ate and talked late into the night—about the future of food in America, the meaning of taste, and the limits of snobbery.