Claude Le-Tohic OUT at Joël Robuchon

Sad news for fans of Joël Robuchon executive chef Claude Le-Tohic. The 2010 winner of the James Beard Foundation award for Best Chef Southwest is leaving the Chef of the Century’s restaurant at the MGM Grand to open his own place in San Francisco. Le-Tohic tells Eater Vegas that he will leave Robuchon’s restaurant by the end of the week and hopes to announce his new venture soon. That restaurant in San Francisco should open by the end of the year.

Le-Tohic came to the United States in 2005 to help Robuchon open his first and only restaurants in America, including L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon. Le-Tohic was tasked with serving Robuchon's vision of dishes while adding his own personal touches.

He grew up in Brittany, and worked in his parents’ crêperie. Le-Tohic attended culinary school in Vannes, France, and then apprenticed at Les Hortensias, a Michelin one star restaurant. Two years later, he left to work at chef Ghislaine Arabians' Le Restaurant, a Michelin two star restaurant in Lille, France. He met Joël Robuchon in 1987 and became the chef de cuisine at Jamin, his Michelin three star restaurant in Paris. After serving in the military, he worked at a number of French restaurants until rejoined Robuchon in 2005 in Las Vegas. Le-Tohic was up for a JBF award for Outstanding Chef last year.