Diat, Louis Felix

Diat, Louis Felix

(1885–1957) chef, author; born in Montmarault, France. He trained at the Paris and London Ritz Hotels before emigrating to the U.S.A. to become chef at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel (1910). Throughout its years of operation (1910–51) "Monsieur Louis" oversaw the superb French cuisine that emerged from New York's most ambitious restaurant kitchen (where he created vichysoisse). He popularized French cooking in his cookbooks (Cooking à la Ritz, 1941) and Gourmet magazine columns.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.