Hélène Darroze works above all with instinct and emotion, to offer a cuisine that is true to her sensibility.

« The South West? My roots, my name, my family, my terroir. I'm steeped in tradition, and I respect with great humility what the land of my ancestors has bequeathed to me. It's in this region that I was instilled with the art of good food, but also the art of good entertaining, of good sharing - quite simply, the art of living well. »

The quality, provenance and freshness of the products she uses are all essential criteria for her. In her quest to bring out the very best in the products she works with, Hélène Darroze's only watchword is respect.

Respect for the product, respect for the seasons, respect for know-how. Thanks to the close relationship she has with her loyal suppliers, Hélène Darroze is able to offer the very best that the season and the market have to offer in her creations.

Born in Mont de Marsan, in the Landes region of France, she is the fourth generation of a family of chefs. After studying at university and graduating from the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce in Bordeaux, she joined Alain Ducasse's team at the prestigious Louis XV in Monaco. After working there for 3 years, the great chef encouraged her to move over to the other side of the stove.

At the age of 32, she left her native Landes, breaking with family tradition, to open her own restaurant in Paris, on the Left Bank in the heart of Saint-Germain-des-Prés.

The restaurant quickly won acclaim from food critics and the national and international press.

In 2008, the legendary Connaught Hotel in the prestigious Mayfair district was looking for a French chef to run its kitchens and revive the tradition of French cuisine. Hélène Darroze accepted the challenge of taking charge of the kitchens at the legendary hotel, where she now runs 'Hélène Darroze at the Connaught', the gourmet restaurant with which she will be awarded a 3rd Michelin star in January 2021.

In September 2018, Hélène Darroze opened a new restaurant in the 2nd arrondissement of Paris, "Jòia par Hélène Darroze". A project that had been almost two years in the making, Hélène Darroze wanted to offer a place for sharing and conviviality.

In May 2019, Hélène Darroze inaugurated "Marsan par Hélène Darroze". Twenty years after opening her first Parisian restaurant, the Basque-Landes chef is returning to her roots and sublimating her work in a completely redesigned space. The restaurant was awarded its 2nd Michelin star in January 2021.

Since July 2021, Hélène Darroze has been orchestrating the cuisine at the Villa La Coste luxury hotel, where the restaurant "Hélène Darroze à Villa La Coste" was awarded a Michelin star in March 2022. Here, she offers a cuisine that reflects her own personality, imbued with emotion and inspired by the gardens of La Coste and the surrounding area, and which seeks to sublimate the local produce of Provence.

Since November 2023, Hélène Darroze has been at the helm of "La Grande Brasserie" at the Royal Mansour in Marrakech, the French cuisine restaurant where her savoir-faire magnifies local products. She wanted to immerse herself in the culture of the Kingdom before creating the new menu for "La Grande Table Marocaine", which opened in April 2024, still at the heart of one of the world's most beautiful palaces.

Hélène Darroze won the 2015 Veuve Clicquot World's Best Female Chef Award from The World's 50 Best Restaurants.

In 2021, Hélène will become the second most awarded woman in the red guide.

Hélène Darroze also has a face and a voice that are well known to the general public, thanks to her role as a member of the Top Chef jury on M6, where she has been a mainstay since 2015.

The mother of 2 daughters, Charlotte and Quiterie, Hélène Darroze was made a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 2012 and an Officer of the National Order of Merit in 2020. Highly committed to a number of causes, she is patron of the "Afghanistan Free" association, which fights to promote respect for the rights of Afghan women and girls.