Beloved Chef Michel Richard Celebrated for His Cuisine, Joie de Vivre

The life of Michel Richard, whose restaurants ranged from Georgetown and downtown Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles, was celebrated Oct. 16 at the French Embassy — La Maison Francaise — on Reservoir Road with a lineup of chefs and restaurateurs rarely seen in one place for one reason.

But, for Richard, everyone wanted to be there and honor him, and hundreds showed up on a sunny Sunday afternoon — all this after the week which saw the debut of the first-ever Michelin Restaurant Guide to Washington, D.C. (A few freshly minted Michelin starred chefs were in attendance.)

Richard, who died Aug. 13 at the age of 68 after suffering a stroke, is fondly remembered in Georgetown for his Citronelle Restaurant at the Latham Hotel, both now shuttered. Central Michel Richard on Pennsylvania Avenue lives on to the delight of all (it provided the savories and sweets for the memorial celebration at the embassy).

It was beyond standing-room-only — and quite moving — as family, friends and chefs spoke of Richard’s love of life and love of food in the embassy auditorium.

With the program emceed by CBS News correspondent Bill Plante, the embassy’s First Counselor Lachaussée spoke first of the chef’s virtuosity in the kitchen: “He was an alchemist of taste and ambassador of our cuisine.”

Thomas Keller of the French Laundry and Per Se cited Richard’s place in the list of French chefs who worked their magic in America and make French cuisine better. “He was a pastry chef who became a chef’s chef,” Keller said.

Larry Shupnick of Interstate Hotel & Resorts, who was Richard’s business partner, talked about luring the chef to the nation’s capital from California, where he helmed Citrus in L.A.

Drew Nieporent of Myriad Restaurant Group said that Richard — also known as “the King of Crunch” — with chef Jean-Louis Palladin together adapted French cuisine to the American palate and therefore “legitimized American chefs.”

As the remembrances on stage ended, a video — aptly titled “Joie de Vivre” — by Mel Davis was viewed, showing Richard’s chef friends talking about the dear, fun-loving man they lost.