Langon: a figure in the gastronomy of the South-West, Claude Darroze has passed away – Le Républicain

Claude Darroze died on the night of Friday 12 to Saturday 13 November 2021, at home, with his family. Figure of French gastronomy, the Michelin-starred chef from Langon had celebrated his 80^e birthday a month earlier. He died six days after his brother, Francis.

“Both were inseparable,” says Jean-Charles Darroze, son of Claude. And they were until the end. They are two pillars of the family who leave us in a very short time. “

Because yes, in the South West, it is a real dynasty created by the Darroze family.

Video> The Darroze dynasty (France 3 Aquitaine)

The name of Claude Darroze will remain eternally linked to the city of Langon, or the starred restaurant he ran, before handing it over to his son, continues to make the prestige of the town.

How to sum up the life of Claude Darroze? An encyclopedia would not be enough to tell everything. Because the course of the starred chef is long, sometimes winding. But it allowed him to enter definitively into the legend of gastronomy.

“I was born in the middle of the pots”

Claude Darroze is the story of a boy who preferred kitchens to classrooms.

“I was born in the middle of the pots,” he said, in July 2009, when he learned of his promotion as Knight of the Legion of Honour.

School wasn’t my thing. So I took up an apprenticeship in Biarritz. “

The following ? It is a passage through Monaco and the famous Hôtel de Paris. There, his superiors see that the Landais has predispositions. Something that the others do not have… So here he is who is a candidate for the best apprentice in France competition.

Claude Darroze, best apprentice in France in 1961

And Claude Darroze, at this precise moment, does not do things by halves. When his friends and colleagues are having a good time, he works his recipes. A continual quest for perfection. The reward will come in 1961: Claude Darroze becomes the best apprentice in France.

A parenthesis by the military service box. Then Claude Darroze pushes the doors of the prestigious Plaza Athénée, in Paris, before returning to his stronghold, in Villeneuve-de-Marsan, and setting sail again. This time, we are heading for Switzerland. For three years, Claude Darroze foams the palaces. A unique experience, as he stressed: “It was an exceptional clientele. For a kid, it was special. “

April 14, 1974: Claude Darroze arrives in Langon

And then, one day, fate strikes. We are in 1974. On the occasion of a match of the Five Nations Tournament, he is offered to take over a business … in Langon, in the Gironde. He gets there very precisely on April 14th.

The year after, Claude Darroze wins his first star. For a decade, his restaurant even had two Michelin stars. “It was above all the success of a team, the fruit of collective work. “Yes, despite the success, Claude Darroze retained an incredible humility.

The palombière and the famous grilled wood pigeon

Because the man did not let himself be intoxicated by success. He knew where he came from.

Claude Darroze was an incredible lover of the Gascon terroir and its riches. Passionate hunter, he even received a few personalities in his palombière. Alain Juppé, singer Pierre Perret, racing driver Henri Pescarolo, restaurateur Michel Guérard, Claude Darroze saw beautiful people pass the threshold of his palombière.

In the columns of Republican South-Gironde, in October 2016, he confided:

“I am in love with traditional hunts, as my father was before me. I particularly like this atmosphere of sharing that prevails at La Palombière. I always enjoy welcoming friends there, whether they are known or not, and sharing a day of relaxation with them. ”

To his guests, whatever their prestige, Claude Darroze liked to serve the same delicacies. Depending on arrivals. “We do with what nature gives us, as we do in restaurant kitchens. What changes is the material, which is still a little more basic in the palombière. “

It is therefore on the grill or on the stove that the restaurateur worked. His great classic? Grilled wood pigeon crapaudine.

For Claude Darroze, cooking was a way of giving back to his region everything he had offered him. ” My job, I have always exercised it with enthusiasm, pleasure and honesty, he told us. It gave me countless satisfactions. ”

To the family and relatives of Claude Darroze, The Republican South-Gironde offers its deepest condolences.

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