Dubois, the son of a master weaver, was born in
Trets in the
Bouches-du-Rhône Department of France. He trained as a chef by working in the kitchen of his uncle's hotel. His uncle, Jean Dubois, had served as a chef for
General Bertrand. In 1840, Urbain Dubois moved to
Paris but then in around 1845 he left the capital to travel and work as a chef in several countries in central Europe before becoming chef to
Prince Alexey Orlov, an ambassador for
Nicholas I of Russia. He is credited with introducing the now conventional
service à la russe (in which dishes are served sequentially, instead of all at once) to Western Europe. This style of service required a menu — so that guests could gauge their appetite — and a person in charge of it, who Dubois called the
chef, not until then a conventional term. In 1860 he became chef in
Berlin to the
Prince regent, William of Prussia, who would become king in the following year. In 1870, at the start of the
Franco-Prussian War, Dubois returned for a short period to France but after the peace treaty was signed in March 1871 he resumed his position with the
Hohenzollern family. He shared the position of head chef with his compatriot,
Émile Bernard, with each being responsible for the cooking on alternate months. This arrangement gave Dubois time for writing. He remained in Berlin until 1880. == Personal life ==