Richard was born in
Pabu,
Brittany, France, on March 7, 1948, and raised in
Champagne. Needing to help his mother care for his siblings, he learned to cook. By age 14, Richard was working full-time as an apprentice
pâtissier at a hotel restaurant in
Reims. After 3 years, Chateau France closed, and Richard moved to
Santa Fe, New Mexico, becoming pastry chef for the French Pastry Shop at
La Fonda Hotel. In 1977, he was able to open the eponymous Michel Richard's Pastry Shop in
Los Angeles. The success of Citrus led to opportunities to open more restaurants, including, in 1989, Citronelle in the Santa Barbara Inn Hotel, followed by satellites of Citrus in
Baltimore,
San Francisco,
Philadelphia, and
Tokyo, all of which eventually closed. In 1991, Richard was inducted into the
James Beard Foundation's ''Who's Who of American Food''. By 1993, Richard had nine restaurants, after opening a Citronelle in
Georgetown. It would be his home-base until it closed in 2012. He won the 2007
James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Chef. In 2007, Richard opened a new restaurant, Central Michel Richard on
Pennsylvania Avenue in
Washington, D.C., and it won the
James Beard Foundation Award for Best New Restaurant. That year, he also opened Citrus at Social in
Los Angeles and Citronelle at Carmel Valley Ranch. Richard died at
Sibley Hospital in Washington, D.C., on August 13, 2016, from complications after a
stroke. At the time of his death, the Pomme Palais bakery in New York and Central Michel Richard were his last two restaurants. ==Awards and honors==