In 1950, The Tradition Was Reborn
At the end of 1949, France was still recovering from the years of war and deprivation.
Jean Valby managed to obtain a leg of lamb — still something of a luxury at the time — and invited two friends to share it with him: Curnonsky, the celebrated writer and food critic known as the “Prince of Gastronomes”, and Dr Auguste Bécart.
The lamb was roasted by Madame Valby, and around that dinner table an idea was born.
The three friends believed that after the difficult years of war, it was time to bring renewed attention to the art of cooking, the culture of the table and France’s great gastronomic traditions.
They were joined by two culinary professionals, Louis Giraudon and Marcel Dorin, forming the group of five founders.
At Easter 1950, they met at the Auberge de la Truite on the Faubourg Saint-Honoré in Paris.
There, the Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs was reborn.
Their purpose was not simply to recreate the medieval guild whose roots reached back to 1248, but to revive its spirit for the modern world — creating a community that would bring culinary professionals and lovers of gastronomy together around the same table.
The values behind that idea remain at the heart of the Chaîne today: culinary excellence and professionalism, the preservation and development of gastronomic traditions, the art of the table, fellowship and mutual respect — and the shared pleasure of fine food and wine.
And so the two dates that still appear on our emblem come together:
- 1248 — the beginning of our heritage.
- 1950 — its rebirth.
