Haute cuisine (literally "high cooking" in
French) or
grande cuisine refers to the cooking of the grand restaurants and hotels of the Western world. It is characterised by elaborate preparations and presentations; large meals of small, often quite rich courses; extensive wine cellars; and large, hierarchical and efficiently run service staffs. The cuisine was defined by the French phrase
cuisine classique until the 1970s, when
cuisine classique was supplanted by
nouvelle cuisine. Nowadays, haute cuisine is not defined by any particular style – there are haute cuisine restaurants serving
fusion cuisine,
regional cuisine and postmodern cuisine – but rather by careful preparations, elaborate service, critical acclaim, and, most importantly, obsessive attention to detail (and high price). Culinary guides such as the
Michelin Guide and
Gault Millau have helped to define modern haute cuisine.