Michel Louis-Marie Richard was born in Pabu, Brittany, France on March 7, 1948. At the age of 14, he signed on as an apprentice with a baker in Reims, France. He fulfilled his military obligation by serving as a cook in the Army and then found work at a pastry shop in Paris. In 1974, he was hired by Gaston Len�tre to open the Ch�teau France in New York City. It failed after three years, but Richard decided to stay in the United States. In 1977 he opened a pastry shop in Los Angeles, where he began experimenting with savory dishes on the side as he expanded the menu. In 1987, he opened Citrus, which offered a French interpretation of the local Californian cuisine in Los Angeles. The… restaurant closed in 2001. His other restaurants included Citronelle and Central Michel Richard. In 2007, the James Beard Foundation named him outstanding chef of the year. He wrote several books including Richard's Home Cooking with a French Accent, Happy in the Kitchen, and Sweet Magic: Easy Recipes for Delectable Desserts. He died from complications of a stroke on August 13, 2016 at the age of 68.
He has written extensively about food & travel. He is a food critic for New York Magazine & write for Food & wine, as well as the Outdoors Column in The New York Times.