Famous as "the king of chefs and the chef of kings," Auguste Escoffier helped raise the position of cooking from a laborer's task to an artist's job. Escoffier was born on October 28, 1846, in the small village of Villeneuve-Loubet, near Nice, France. Among the key figures in the boy's life was his father, who worked primarily as a blacksmith . His grandmother, an enthusiastic cook, was perhaps more responsible than anyone for introducing the boy to an appreciation of the delights of cooking. Young Escoffier attended the local school until age 12, upon which time his father thought it necessary that the boy learn a trade. In school he had shown a talent for drawing, yet he was told to regard this art only as a hobby, and to find his career in a more practical profession. Thus his father took him to Nice in 1859, where he would work as an apprentice in his uncle's restaurant, the respectable Le Restaurant Francais. At Le Restaurant Francais, Escoffier was not treated as the close relative of the boss. Rather, he experienced a classically demanding apprenticeship. For this strictness of training he would later, in his memoirs , express gratefulness. During this time Escoffier also attended night school, and had to deal with his studies as well as the demands of a promising career. When Escoffier was 19 and had taken on yet more responsibilities in his uncle's restaurant, a customer recognized his skills and offered him work in Paris. This was the owner of Le Petit Moulin Rouge, one of the finest restaurants in Paris, where Escoffier was to become a sous-chef, ranking below the head chef. After three years in this position, he rose to the level of head chef, wearing the respected chef's hat. It was his   _   who first influenced Escoffier to be interested in cooking.
father mother uncle grandmother