"We had a product that nobody was doing anything with, so we wanted to gain credibility with a core group of influential chefs."

Mr. Point, who died in 1955 at 58, has been widely regarded as one of the most influential French chefs of the century.

"For the first time in the annals of modern cuisine, the most influential chefs in the world are not French," he declared.

But a portrait of James Beard, the influential chef and cookbook writer who died in 1985, has not gone from the Four Seasons restaurant to a flea market.

But at the moment, most of the influential chefs are women because they are the ones who have kept the home-cooking traditions alive.

At 55, Ducasse is one of the most influential chefs in the world, with a global empire of 25 restaurants on three continents.

The "Augie" was named for Auguste Escoffier, one of the world's most renowned and influential chefs.

Robuchon was the most influential French chef of the post-nouvelle cuisine era.

In 1837 he was hired to be chef of the Reform Club, a position that made him famous and, like today's tastemakers, influential.

Slow Food Nation's founder is influential chef and author Alice Waters.