Hélène Darroze

Originally from Mont-de-Marsan, in southwestern France, Hélène Darroze represents the fourth generation of a family of restaurateurs. She opened her first restaurant in Paris at the age of 32, and was named The World's Best Female Chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants in 2015. Darroze is one of the few three-Michelin-starred female chefs in the world, having been awarded at Hélène Darroze at The Connaught in London, as well as two stars at the Marsan par Hélène Darroze in Paris.

As a young graduate, Darroze first began working for Alain Ducasse, in the offices of the Louis XV in Monaco in 1990, then in the kitchen. Returning to run the family restaurant, she retained its Michelin star before deciding to open the restaurant that bears her name in Rue d'Assas in Paris, where she won her first Michelin star in 2001, and the second in 2003. Later, in 2008, she accepted the important and decisive position at The Connaught in London, where the rewards came gradually: the first Michelin star in 2009, the second in 2011, and the third in 2021.