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# Death of maître d'hôtel François Vatel at Chantilly on 24 April 1671
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/24-aprelia-1671-g-prerval-svoi-zhiznennyi-put-vydaiushchiisia-frantsuzskii-metrdotel-restorator-anterprener-osnovopolozhnik-keiteringa-fransua-vatel/
- Published: 2020-04-24T09:56:05.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T19:01:58.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Cinema, Monarchies, Mores, People

On 24 April 1671 the outstanding French maître d'hôtel, restaurateur, impresario and founder of catering, François Vatel, brought his life's journey to an end. Vatel's name has become a byword for restaurateurs and chefs the world over: the man was so devoted to his calling that he judged life not worth living if a dinner of his devising should fail to rise to the occasion. Louis II de Bourbon, known as the Prince de Condé, was receiving Louis XIV at Chantilly. A grand celebration had been arranged in the king's honour, but Vatel doubted that the sea fish would arrive in time to be served at table. That doubt proved fatal: he could not bear the agitation and threw himself on his sword, although the fish did in the end arrive on time, since Vatel had had the foresight to order it from several ports at once. Nobody noticed the death of the festival's organiser, and the host of the evening ordered Vatel to be buried in secret, so as not to spoil the festivities. The story of this extraordinary man was sung by his contemporaries in their memoirs, became the talk of the town among men of letters, and found an echo in cinema: he was played by Depardieu in the 2000 drama "Vatel".